PV Sindhu is just one win away to ensure another medal for India on Friday as she beat Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a hard-fought quarterfinal encounter. The match ended in PV Sindhu’s favour with a scoreline of 21-13, 22-20.
PV Sindhu enters semi-final of Tokyo Olympics
Both the players started the first set cautiously but it was Yamaguchi who made the move after early exchange. The Japanese shuttler raced to a three-point lead over the Indian, but Sindhu was able to trim down the lead to just one point after Yamaguchi slips while trying to return Sindhu’s drop shot. Yamaguchi though once again took a two-point advantage as Sindhu failed to keep the shuttle in play.
The Indian shuttler fought her way back to take the lead for the time in the match. Both players relied on the rallies to pick up points and it was Sindhu who had 11-7 lead at the towel interval. Post the interval, the Indian continued from where she left and widened the gap to 5 points. Yamaguchi did try and fight back in search of points and attacked Sindhu at the nets, but the Indian did not deter and stretched the lead to 7 points before winning the first set 21-13 in 23 minutes.
The second set was a close fought game with Sindhu surging ahead by 2 points, while Yamaguchi continues to chase her opponent. A couple of unforced errors from the Japanese shuttler resulted in Sindhu gaining a five-point lead at the break. After the interval, the second completely changed as Yamaguchi finally managed to cut down the lead to just one point (14-15) with the longest rally of the match (11 strokes). The comeback was complete (16-16) by making Sindhu commit unforced errors. The Indian however was ready to give up the second set so easily as she forced a strong comeback to level the tie at 20-20.