Indian Badminton player PV Sindhu is just a win away from her first Olympic medal after she beat of world number two and London games silver medallist Wang Yihan of China in women’s singles quarter-finals. Sindhu has entered the semi-finals of the Rio 2016 Olympics with a 22-20, 21-19 win over her opponent.
Sindhu is only the second Indian woman player to reach the semi-final of Olympic games after Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in London games.
21-year-old Sindhu displayed a great combination of aggression and defence, coming into the match with a 2-4 head-to-head record, in a gruelling match that lasted 54 minutes
Both players showed great skills and made use of their long reach and height. It was neck-and-neck in the first set. Wang looked a better player but the momentum shifted in Sindhu’s favour at the end of that set.
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Sindhu continued that momentum in the second set and raced to a 8-3 lead and at the break she led 11-8 before Wang showed great defence which frustrated Sindhu. The score was tied 13-13 when Sindhu broke loose.
She then quickly got to 18-13 with her brilliant cross-court smashes. But her Chinese opponent made a quick recovery with six consecutive points and took a 19-18 lead.
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This was the last point Wang could score against Sindhu. Sindhu returned three shots into Wang’s body and the Chinese netted two of them to give Sindhu the match. Wang failed to return a Sindhu shot and handed the Indian the match.
Sindhu is now a win away from assuring India a medal in the women’s singles category. If she wins her semi-final, she plays the gold medal match, which assures at least a silver for India.
If she loses, she has to play a bronze medal play-off with loser of other semi-final. She plays her semi-final on Thursday.
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