It was not intended for Primary Sindhu. The Rio Olympic silver medalist was denied second place in a row by world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying, who practiced magic with her racket in the women’s badminton singles final at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
PV Sindhu lost the semi-finals against the Taiwanese star 18-21, 12-21 in 40 minutes, which means 4 defeats in a row against Numero Uno. While Sindhu suffered a heartbreak, it was a moment of redemption for Tai who reached her first Olympic final.
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PV Sindhu still has the opportunity to become the second Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals after wrestler Sushil Kumar. Sushil won the wrestling bronze in 2008 and followed with silver in 2012.
After losing to the magical Tai Tzu Ying, Sindhu is ready to face China’s He Bingjiao in the bronze medal Game on sunday.
Tai has never stood on the Olympic podium. In contrast to many of her excellent colleagues, the 27-year-old does not have a World Cup medal either. But she will be eager to rewrite history on Sunday when she competes against Chinese Chen Yufei in the gold medal game.
Rio #Olympia Medal winner @ pvsindhu1 put all she had but went 18-21.12-21 against World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semifinals of @ Tokyo2020 You will have a medal game against HE Bing Jiao. to play #SmashfortheGlory#Badminton# Tokyo2020# Cheer4India#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/8VK5aDpv4h
– BAI media (@BAI_Media) July 31, 2021
The Taiwanese magician in full swing
Tai stayed behind for most of the first game. She went into the interlude of the first game with 8-11. But at no point did it look like she had allowed Sindhu to dominate. The Indian superstar had started off brilliantly with a stunning cross-court smash and take-off from a defensive position, which gave Tai a taste of her own medicine.
But that was probably the last time Sindhu was allowed to smash the way she normally does, while Tai controlled the rally and made sure it pulled out the Indian’s greatest weapon.
Some of these slice drops from Tai, as the on-air commentators pointed out, should certainly be banned!
Sindhu had beaten Tai in the 2019 World Championships and the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals, and had come back on both occasions after losing the first game. But on Saturday Tai gave her no chance and brought her to 14: 5 against the Indian in 19 games.
The second game looked like a walk in the park for Tai Tzu Ying. The Taiwanese star suggested winners at will. The only indecision she faced on most occasions was deciding which of her myriad options she would take to defeat Sindhu. There was so much variety with Tai-like precision that Sindhu had no answers.
Sindhu fails to join the Olympic elite
Sindhu missed the opportunity to become the only third player in women’s singles to reach a consecutive Olympic final. The 26-year-old won the silver medal at the Rio Games 5 years ago and went down in a hard-fought gold medal match against the Spaniard Carolina Marin, who was eliminated from Tokyo in 2020 with a cruciate ligament injury.
The only two women to reach two Olympic finals are Bong Soo-hyun from South Korea – silver in 1992, gold in 1996, and Zhang Ning from China – gold medals in 2004 and 2008.
Can Sindhu crown a great Olympic campaign with a medal?
In the run-up to the games there were doubts about Sindhu’s form as she had only won 2 titles on the tour in the last 3 years. Yes you’ve read correctly. Sindhu victorious at the 2019 World Championships and the 2018 World Tour Finals and podium places in major tournaments had eluded her.
In contrast to early 2021, when Sindhu looked rusty and struggled for form, the reigning world champion began her Olympic campaign in Tokyo, defeating lower Ksenia Polikarpova and Cheung Ngan Yi in straight games.
In the knockout phase, tougher challenges awaited the Indian. But she mastered it. She defeated the world number 12 from Denmark Mia Blichfelft in just 41 minutes while clinching a stunning win against the world number 5 and the local hope Akane Yamaguchi in straight games, A belated indictment passed by the former Numero Uno.
Sindhu moved from Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy earlier this year to train at Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad and also had a brief stint in the UK to work on strength and nutrition. Though Sindhu claimed the move from the famous academy was to train in conditions similar to those that were to be offered in Tokyo.
There have been a lot of rumors, but Sindhu kept reiterating that she did her job alongside South Korean coach Park Tae Sang, who came on board in 2018 contrary to her early form of the season.
Sindhu can still finish on the podium and in screenplay history.
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