The two times Olympics medalist PV Sindhu gets knocked out of the Badminton Asia Championship after losing to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a three-set thriller.
The duo had met at the Tokyo Olympics last year. And Sindhu was able to knock out the Japanese in the Quarterfinal stage.
This time the Japanese had her sweet revenge on her Indian counterpart. She knocked out Sindhu in a hard-fought three-set match by 21-13, 19-21, and 16-21.
Sindhu started from where she left off in Tokyo less than a year ago. She was all attacking and didn’t give her opponent any space in the first set. The first set looked almost like a mismatch. Sindhu won the first set with a margin of 8 points.
The second set, however, saw a great return by Yamaguchi. She matched Sindhu toe to toe in this set and kept her at bay for most of the set. It was a close encounter, but Yamaguchi emerged on top at its end.
Sindhu seemed to have lost her mojo in the third set. She played some wavering shots, which gifted points to her opposition. In the end, it was a comfortable victory for her opponent by a margin of 5 points.
It was an intense match between the duo. They also came together for a moment to have a verbal jab at one another. It could be seen as the tilting point of the match, as Sindhu lost the game after that moment.
The Indian Shuttler, however was still able to manage to secure a medal in the tournament. This will be her second bronze in the tournament. She had earlier won a Bronze in this tournament back in 2014.
With Sindhu’s departure, India is officially out of the Individual continental championship. They will be hoping to accumulate more medals in other categories, though.
