Bye Advantage: Sindhu advances to round 2 in BWF Championships

Olympic medalist PV Sindhu has been handed a first-round bye in the women’s singles draw for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, from August 21-27, on Thursday. The draw for the World Championships was held at the BWF headquarters at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday. Former World Champion Sindhu, seeded 16th in the tournament, could play Japanese star and her rival Nozomi Okuhara in the second round, who beat Sindhu in the 2017 championships final before the Indian shuttler avenged her loss in the 2019 World Championships at Basel. Both Nozomi Okuhara and PV Sindhu have been struggling with their form this year. Men’s doubles second seeds Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy received a bye in the opening round and the same was the case with Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, the 15th seeds in women’s doubles. Sindhu, the 2019 world champion, silver medallist in 2017 and 2018 and bronze medal winner in 2013 and 2014 is India’s most successful player at the championships.