Tokyo Olympics 2020: PV Sindhu suffers straight-games loss to Tai Tzu-Ying in semis, to face He Bing Jiao for bronze

One of the most consistent players who claimed medals in all big-ticket events in the last five years, Sindhu couldn’t counter Tai Tzu’s deception with her aggressive game, going down 18-21 12-21.

Tokyo: Reigning world champion PV Sindhu’s hopes of securing India’s first-ever Olympic gold in badminton came crashing down as she slumped to a straight-games defeat against world No 1 Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles semi-finals in Tokyo on Saturday.

The 26-year-old silver-medallist from the Rio Games, however, remained in the hunt for a bronze medal and will be competing against China’s He Bing Jiao in the third-place play-off at Musashino Forest Plaza on Sunday.

One of the most consistent players who claimed medals in all big-ticket events in the last five years, Sindhu couldn’t counter Tai Tzu’s deception with her aggressive game, going down 18-21 12-21.

This is Sindhu’s 14th loss to the Taiwanese second seed in 19 meetings, having also lost to her in the last three face-offs.

Reacting to her loss in the last four stages of the women’s singles event, Sindhu’s father PV Ramana said Tzu-Ying did not offer the Indian a single chance to catch up with her, according to ANI.

Ramana, a former professional volleyball player, added that Bing Jiao will not be an easy opponent in the bronze medal match that takes place on 1 August.

On Friday, Sindhu seeded sixth, had beaten Japanese world No 5 Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, men’s singles player B Sai Praneeth and the men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had failed to qualify for the knockout stage.

News Credits: Firstpost