Tokyo Olympics: PV Sindhu stands in way of Cheung Ngan-yi after win over Ksenia Polikarpova

Name: Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympic Games, as Hong Kong swimmer makes history in Tokyo
Uploaded: 2021-07-27T08:05:12.000Z
Duration: 5 min 17 s
Description: Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympic Games, as Hong Kong swimmer makes history in Tokyo

Hong Kong shuttler opens women’s singles with victory over world No 58, Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova

World No 34 has never beaten Rio 2016 silver medallist Sindhu in five attempts but will need to for place in the last 16 in Tokyo

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Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan-yi plays against Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova during their women's singles group badminton match at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday. Photo: AP Photo

Jonathan Whitein Tokyo

Published: 4:05pm, 27 Jul 2021Updated: 8:38pm, 27 Jul 2021

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Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan-yi got her women’s singles Olympic badminton campaign off to an ideal start with a 2-1 win over Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova but she faces an uphill struggle to reach the last 16.

Cheung won 2-1 at the Masushiro Forest Sports Park Plaza, taking the first game 21-12 before the Israeli world No 58 levelled with a 21-15 win.

Hong Kong’s No 1 woman – and world No 34 – stepped it back up with a 21-16 win to take the match and now she has one eye on the round of 16.

The win, the 28-year-old’s first of 2021, moves her a step closer to her dream of an Olympic medal but she will need to do something she has never done in her career and that is beat Indian powerhouse and 2019 world champion PV Sindhu.

05:17

Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympic Games, as Hong Kong swimmer makes history in Tokyo

India’s world No 7 is next up for Cheung on Wednesday morning with top spot in the group on the line, as Polikarpova lost her first match 2-0 to Sindhu.