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In a massive result for India, PV Sindhu has defeated the No. 3 seed Li Xuerui of China 21-17 14-21 21-17 in the third round of the Badminton World Championships on Thursday to move into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The opening game saw the Indian take an early 5-1 lead. She then continued to exert pressure on Li by winning consecutive points at a stretch and making the score 11-4 at the interval mark. After the break, the 20-year-old continued to chip away with the points and eventually won the game 21-17 to take a crucial one game lead.
The second game saw the Chinese make a strong comeback as she took a 6-1 early lead and maintained the advantage, leading by at least 2 points at all times and clinching the game 21-14 to make it one game apiece.
The decider saw each player winning 3 out of the first 6 points before Sindhu won 5 points on the trot to go 8-3 up in the game. But Li refused to throw in the towel so early and started to chip away the points steadily. The critical turn in the match arrived at the 14-14 mark when the Indian won an important series of 4 straight points to go 18-14 up and put the Chinese on the backfoot. '
Sindhu held on to that lead and eventually pulled off an excellent win to progress through to the quarters and knock the No. 3 seed out of the competition.
This win will certainly come as a massive boost for the Indian who will look to carry this confidence into the business stages of the tournament.
Final Scoreline: PV Sindhu beats Li Xuerui 21-17 14-21 21-17
