PV Sindhu failed to make her presence felt against Tai Tzu-Ying having lost the last three times they had played against each other.
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Indian badminton star PV Sindhu suffered a defeat against World No.1 Tai Tzu-Ying by a 18-21, 12-21 margin in the women’s singles semi-final of the ongoing Tokyo 2020. Tzu-Ying has now reached the final of the event, which is a massive boost to the hopes of fans back home. Sindhu will fight for the Bronze medal against China’s He Bing Jiao tomorrow at 5 PM IST.
The Indian shuttler went into the mid-game interval of the first clash, holding the lead following a 11-8 scoreline. While Sindhu maintained a great defence, Tzu-Ying made her presence felt with some excellent crosscourt net shots. However, the World No 1 made a stunning comeback after the game resumed, leaving the Indian with no room for capitalising upon mistakes. Tzu-Ying maintained her supremacy, pulling off a 18-21 triumph against the odds.
The second game saw the Taiwanese grab control from the starting, with both players guilty of making more mistakes. Tzu-Ying however maintained her composure in a better manner, taking a 7-11 lead at the interval. The Taiwanese continued to push hard after taking the lead, stretching the game till a 12-21 scoreline. With 8 match points in hand, the encounter was virtually done and dusted which Tzu-Ying converted into reality by scoring off the first match point.
The Indian badminton star defeated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan by a 21-13, 22-20 margin in the women’s singles quarter-final. The former started the first game on a dominant note, leading 11-7 at the interval. While the first few points witnessed a little bit of passiveness from Sindhu, she quickly switched tactics to race ahead. Yamaguchi did not help her cause by making a number of errors, struggling with the drift going down the court from her end.
Sindhu maintained the lead after the game resumed, seeming absolutely unfazed which has been one of the highlights of her campaign so far. The Indian had all the right answers to Yamaguchi’s moves, mixing aggression with excellent defensive skills. The Japanese shuttler won two spectacular points towards the end of the first game, but Sindhu maintained her dominance winning the first game by a 21-13 margin.
The Indian badminton star maintained the supremacy initially in the second game, taking a 10-5 lead. Sindhu further maintained a relentless attitude, stretching the dominance in scoreline to 14-8. However, Yamaguchi made a soaring comeback in this scenario, bouncing back with aplomb to make it 15-13.
It was a close contest from this stage as both shuttlers battled it out for supremacy. Yamaguchi led 20-18 at one point, resulting in some labelling her as a favourite for the second game. However, Sindhu pulled off a fantastic comeback to sail into the semi-finals, following a 22-20 win sealing off the contest.
The Indian shuttler earlier defeated Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt 21-15, 21-13 in the round of 16 women’s singles Badminton match. The sixth seed dominated the match against the 13th seed as she finished it in just 41 minutes.
