Asian Games 2018: PV Sindhu struggles past Vu Thi Trang, advances to 2nd round

Jakarta: World Championship silver medallist PV Sindhu faced stiff resistance from world number 52 Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam before moving to the women's singles second round at the 18th Asian Games, here on Thursday.

In an unexpected tough first round, Sindhu prevailed 21-10 12-21 23-21 over Trang in 58 minutes.

The third seeded Indian will face local hope Gregoria Mariska Tunjung next.

After the first two games, the decider was a see-saw affair in which Sindhu took a mini 2-0 lead but her unforced errors allowed Trang to make it 3-3.

Sindhu did set up the points but was not consistent in execution. Errors of judgements in leaving the shuttles from Sindhu also benefited Trang. The Indian lost her lead in the decider for the first time when she hit one out at 9-9 looking for a winner on the left side of the Vietnamese.

After change of ends, Sindhu showed better control over shots and cut down on unforced errors to create a four-point lead, making it 16-12 but soon lost three points in a row.

The contest headed for a nerve-wracking finish with both the players locked 19-19. Trang's shot sailed over the baseline and Indian had her first match point but she squandered it by smashing one to net.

Sindhu again had a match point at 21-20 and smashed one hard on the left of Trang but it was marginally out.

She earned her third match point when Trang's shot found the net and this time Sindhu sealed it with a smash which her opponent could not return.