Tokyo: PV Sindhu continued her dominating run at the Tokyo Olympics stunning fourth-seed local favourite Akane Yamaguchi in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the Musashino Forest Plaza Court 1 on Friday. She will either take on Ratchanok Intanon or Tai Tzu-Ying next for a place in the final.
The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist won 21-13, 22-20 against Yamaguchi to make her second consecutive Olympic semifinal. Having won more than 10 clashes over her Japanese opponent previously, Sindhu knew what awaits her in Tokyo and played accordingly.
India's badminton ace @Pvsindhu1 enters #TokyoOlympics SF after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21- 13 22-20#Badminton #Olympics #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/ad1BXH4iTY
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) July 30, 2021
The reigning world champion, Sindhu started on a slower note trailing initially but gradually grew into the game to win the first set quite comfortably. In what was the best-ever badminton encounter so far in the tournament, Sindhu led Yamaguchi 14-8 at one point in time.
But the Japanese made a brilliant comeback levelling the score at 16-all including a 54-shot rally much to the amazement of the contingent members cheering from the stands. Exhausted and tired, Yamaguchi played continued to push harder to surge ahead but Sindhu used her height and experience to great use to level the score at 20-all before bagging two match points to seal the deal.
