Cricketing fraternity praises PV Sindhu for her quarterfinal victory over Akane Yamaguchi in Tokyo Olympics

Before the Tokyo Olympics, hopes were pinned on PV Sindhu since she had won the silver medal in the women’s singles badminton five years ago in Rio. The youngster started with victories over Israel’s Kmsenia Polikarpova, Hong Kong’s Ngan Yi Cheung and Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt. Most importantly, the 26-year-old secured victories in straight sets in all those three matches.

However, in her quarterfinal match, she was faced with the challenge of Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi. Prior to the all-important game, Sindhu led her opponent by 11-7 on the head-to-head count. However, Yamaguchi’s recent record against the Indian shuttler was impressive. Nevertheless, in their meeting in the All England Open back in March, Sindhu had won 16-21, 21-16 and 21-19.

Sindhu yet to lose a set 

In the BWF rankings, while Yamaguchi was placed fourth, Sindhu was positioned at sixth. The game at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, however, turned out to be an exciting one. Sindhu won the match in straight sets 21-13, 22-20, but Yamaguchi kept fighting until the very end. In the first set, Sindhu didn’t have to break a lot of sweat after she took the lead right from the outset.

Even in the second set, Sindhu was into the lead for quite some time. But Yamaguchi came back six points from behind and even took the lead. In the second set, there was a 54-shot rally between the two players and it lasted for one minute and two seconds. In the end, Sindhu came out trumps and have managed to qualify for the semi-finals of the individual event on Saturday, July 31.

The match lasted for 56 minutes and it had taken a toll on both players. In the semi-final, Sindhu will be facing the winner of the match between Ratchanok Intanon and Tai Tzu Ying. She is yet to lose a set in the individual even until now and must be brimming with confidence.

In the meantime, the cricketing fraternity wished Sindhu for taking one more step towards the coveted Olympics gold medal. The likes of Yusuf Pathan, Ravi Ashwin, Wasim Jaffer and many others wished the Indian shuttler on her triumph.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to PV Sindhu’s win