PV Sindhu lost her semi-final against World Number 1 Tai Tzu Zing 21-18, 21-12.
PV Sindhu remains in contention for a Bronze medal and will take on China's He Bingjiao on Sunday at 5pm IST.
India’s hopes for a badminton Gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics came to an end on Saturday evening as the ace PV Sindhu was knocked out in the semi-final of the Women’s singles event by the World number 1 Tai Tzu Zing. The intensely fought contest lasted 40 minutes as Tai won 21-18, 21-12.
Sindhu however remains in contention for the Bronze medal, for which she will take the court on Sunday at 5pm IST. She will face China's He Bingjiao for the Bronze.
It was Tai who started off with a quick 2-0 lead before Sindhu rattled of four points, leaving the opponent on the floor with a fantastic cross court smash. The two players, well acquainted with each other’s game, kept chipping away, finding the angles and using the depth of the court well to pick points off. Sindhu led 11-8 at mid-game in the first game.
After the break, Tai upped the ante and as did Sindhu. However, Tai, who was showing off her full repertoire of shots, quickly cut down the lead, bringing things to level pegging even as the Indian kept up, for most of the first game. Quite simply, none were giving away an inch but Tai, who played catch-up for most of the first game won it at 21-18 in 21 minutes.
The intense battle continued of course in the next game with Tai having the better of the first phase in the game. Sindhu was playing catch-up this time round with Tai dominating the pace of game and taking an 11-7 lead into the break. Suddenly, Sindhu’s hits were not falling just inside the baseline as the opponent seemingly became stronger by the moment.
Sindhu could not find a way back and Tai used all her power and guile, racing away with the game in quick time. The Indian did cut down on the lead marginally, but a comeback was never in the offing. Tai, the better player of the two on the day, wrapped up the game having saved 8 match points with the score at 21-12.
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