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However, the day that started on a rousing note, thanks to Sindhu and Das, ended on a gloomy note as boxing legend MC Mary Kom bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals, losing a tight bout to 2016 Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia 3:2 split decision in the women's 51kg (flyweight) round of 16. The defeat brought down the curtains on a brilliant career in which she won everything the sport had to offer.

Mia, who was ranked 11th in the world a couple of years back, had sent Sindhu packing from the Thailand Open in January this year, found the Indian star, silver medallist at the Rio Olympics and gunning for gold here, too strong on Thursday and could not play her usual game as Sindhu took control from the start.

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Sindhu's better court coverage and her use of the angles was the key to her victory against the 28-year old Cheung, who lost her sixth consecutive career match to the tall Indian shuttler. The sixth-seeded Sindhu raced to an 11-5 lead as Cheung fruitlessly tried to push the 26-year old Indian deep into the corners of the forehand backcourt, ending up pushing the shuttles long.

Born on July 5, 1995 at Hyderabad, the lean, lanky and power hitting shuttler is eager to add more medals to the silver medal she bagged in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. Sports and winning medals are no stranger to Sindhu as both her parents were former volleyball players. In fact her father P.V. Ramana bagged a bronze medal at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

In a quarterfinal match, Sindhu beat Akane 1621, 2116, 2119 in one hour and 16 minutes in the Super 1000 tournament.In the semifinals, fifth seed Sindhu will face sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand. Earlier, in a quarterfinal match, Pornpawee beat unseeded Beiwen Zhang of the USA 721, 2113, 219 in 38 minutes.

Sindhu, who raced to the final of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament earlier this month without dropping a game, crashed to a 21-12, 21-5 defeat to Spanish Olympic champion Carolina Marin. Marin, however, pulled out of the Championships on Tuesday due to an injury she suffered at the Swiss Open.

Sindhu, who came into the final without dropping a game, matched the Spaniard in the opening exchanges of the first game. With this victory, world No. 3 Carolina Marin has won her third title of 2021. Earlier, Denmark's world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen beat Thai eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-16, 21-6 to win his third title of the year in the men's singles final.

The Swiss Open is the first tournament that falls within the restructured qualification period for the Tokyo Olympics which will be held from July 23 this year. The qualification period ends on June 15 and, with the top 16 on the world rankings gaining automatic qualification, the seventh-ranked Sindhu is well-placed to make it to the quadrennial event.

Sindhu, the reigning world champion, went down 21-19, 12-21, 17-21 in a match that lasted almost an hour. In the opening game, Tzu Ying started off brilliantly and took a healthy lead at the mid-game break. However, the Indian staged a brilliant turnaround as she came out with a spirited performance and went on the clinch the game 21-19 in 20 minutes.