Manila: Indian shuttler PV Sindhu had to settle for a bronze medal after losing to reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the women’s singles semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships 2022 here on Saturday. The 26-year-old Sindhu, a former world champion, lost to world No. 2 Yamaguchi 21-13, 19-21, 21-16 in a match that lasted one hour and six minutes for her second bronze medal in the continental event. Sindhu’s first Asian Championships medal came in 2014, when she lost to former world No. 1 Wang Shijian of China in the semi-finals.
World No 7 got off to another good start and dominated her Japanese rival in the opening exchanges. Performing brilliantly, Sindhu won the first game without any challenge.
The second game saw a much more aggressive approach from Yamaguchi, who won four of the first five points. Sindhu, however, regained her momentum and secured the next six points. The Indian shuttler went down 4-1 at the break to lead 11-6. But, the Indian shuttler lost momentum in the post-break interval and Yamaguchi won the second game.
In the third game, the Japanese shuttler started playing cleverly against Sindhu. As the game progressed, both the shuttlers engaged in long rallies. However, Yamaguchi kept his cool to make it to Sunday’s final.
This was Sindhu’s ninth loss against her higher-ranked rival in 22 matches. The Indian shuttler, a two-time Olympic medalist, had defeated Yamaguchi in last year’s BWF World Tour Finals and Tokyo Olympics quarterfinals.
Sindhu’s defeat ended India’s challenge at the Badminton Asia Championships, as other top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen crashed out of the first round.
first published:April 30, 2022, 6:12 pm