Indian Champion PV Sindhu has made it to the Semi-finals of Tokyo Olympics. Sindhu saved two set points in the 2nd Game and defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 22-20.
PV Sindhu after beating Akane Yamaguchi shared, “I’m happy but it's not over yet. For me it's time to go back, relax and get ready for the next match. I'm happy but I need to prepare for the next match. There were some very long rallies. The second game was very important, I was leading and Akane came back - so I couldn't relax. On my side there were a few errors. I wasn't nervous even though she was at game point, my coach was saying: 'It's okay, keep the focus and you'll get there'. He was constantly supporting me and that got me by and I'm happy I got back in two games.”
Sindhu won the 1st set with ease but the 2nd set was a real thriller. Sindhu will play her semi-finals match on 31st July against the winner of Ratchanok Intanon vs Tai Tzu Ying clash.
The first game was more close than the scoreline suggested and Sindhu had to bring out the best in her to win it 21-13. The scoreline in the first game might not indicate how closely it was fought, but Yamaguchi made her fight for every point. The star Indian shuttler was just one more game away from progressing to the semi-finals.
Yamaguchi made Sindhu toil hard in the second game, and for every point, the Indian shuttler had to be at her best. In the end, the number six seed Sindhu ended up winning the match in straight games.
In the second game of the quarter-final, there was a 54-shot rally between Sindhu and Yamaguchi and it lasted for one minute and two seconds.
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On Thursday, Sindhu had notched up a straight-game triumph over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt, 13th seed, in the pre-quarterfinals.
She was the lone Indian in the fray in badminton after men's singles player B Sai Praneeth and men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy failed to qualify for the knockout stage.