Bengaluru, August 28: Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu remained in the hunt for a historic Asian Games gold medal after a tense win. World number three Sindhu beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 15-21, 21-10 for her second win over the Japanese at the Asian Games, having beaten her in the team championship as well. The energy-sapping 65-minute match featured a 50-shot rally in the decider, which Sindhu won. But in the final, she lost 13-21, 16-21 to Tai.
Here's MyKhel Live Blog of the historic match between Sindhu and Tai Tzu Ying of Tai Pei. And don't forget to mail us your thoughts on [email protected]
21-13, 21-16 - a totally lopsided win for Tai in the gold medal match. Sindhu was not in the race even for once.
Looks like another Silver for Sindhu - unless a massive turnaround
Tai has a 4 point lead at the moment and Sindhu needs some serious lift
What is working for Tai is that there is no pattern in her play and she has at least three shots to earn one point.
Tai won the first game 21-13. As simple as that
Unbelievable to see the narrow angles Tai chooses to collect her points. At this moment she's up 17-10 and toying with Sindhu
Minimum movement, maximum deception -it's pleasure to watch Tai. Time for Sindhu to step up
Tai goes into early lead at 3-0 but a lot of time in this match
It's Match Time as both the players are warming up
As we wait for the final - Watch how Sindhu beat Yamaguchi in semis
#PVSindhu enters the FINALS of #AsianGames2018
— OGQ (@OGQ_India) August 27, 2018
India has never won a Gold or Silver medal at an #AsianGames ever in any event, it's always been a Bronze! @Pvsindhu1 is here to challenge everything!
She beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 15-21, 21-10 to enter the finals👏🇮🇳 #Proud pic.twitter.com/9v1COB1vQv
Sindhu has this to say about her match against Tai: “I never thought negative for a moment. I was always thinking about improving with each match. It is a big competition and there are no easy matches."
India has just two individual medals at Asian Games - Syed Modi won a bronze in 1982 Games in New Delhi and Saina got one in the ongoing games at Jakarta
Sindhu is the first Indian to reach the final of an Olympics — a feat she achieved in the 2016 Rio Olympics — and the first player from the country to reach two World Championship finals. But despite that a big achievement had eluded her. Can she turn it around at Jakarta?
Overall, Tai Tzu Ying has a 9-3 record against Sindhu. But coach Gopichand was confident. "Sindhu is one of the peoples with power and speed who can pull this off."
Sindhu will face Tai in less than an hour from now. It will be a cracker of a contest.