Changzhou (China): Reigning world champion and title favourite PV Sindhu sailed into the pre-quarterfinals with a convincing straight-game win over former Olympic gold-medallist Li Xuerui at the China Open Super 1000 tournament here on Wednesday. India's top shuttler Sindhu beat China's Li Xuerui 21-18 21-12 in just 34 minutes to set up a clash with Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong.

Replicating her world championship form, the Olympic silver-medallist produced another strong performance to get the better of the currently 20th-ranked Chinese, who entered the match with a 3-3 record against the Indian. Men's singles players, Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap also progressed to the second round after notching up contrasting opening-round wins. Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy too found a place in the pre-quarterfinals after crossing the opening hurdle. However, Saina made an early exit after losing to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women's singles.