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The Rio Olympic Silver medalist lost in a gruelling three-set semi-final to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the All England Badminton Championships played at Arena Birmingham, Birmingham on Saturday.
It was an amazing match wiequalled players fighting for each point and stretching from 20 to 51 most of the times. PV Sindhu won the first set 21-19. In the next two sets, it was an astonishing effort made by these two top players but Yamaguchi held her nerves in the final stages of each game and won the match.
In the first set, PV Sindhu began on a positive note, taking a commanding 6-0 lead in the early stages. Yamaguchi tried to comeback into the game, but the Rio Olympic silver medallist had an 11-5 lead at the interval.
After the interval, Sindhu continued to dominate and took a 16-8 lead. Yamaguchi then reversed and cameback into the game from 10-17 to take 7 points in succession to level the scores at 17-17. Sindhu held her nerves and won the first set 21-19.
The second game also saw exciting badminton with both players fighting for alternate points till 9-9. Yamaguchi had an 11-9 lead at the interval.
After the interval, long rallies continued and Sindhu equalled the score at 12-12. Yamaguchi played aggressive badminton and forced Sindhu in making unforced errors. The Japanese player won the second set by an identical margin of 21-19.
In the third set also started on equal footing with scores at 3-3. Sindhu took 3 points in succession to take a 6-3 lead and continued to attack and take an 11-7 lead at the interval.
After the interval, the Rio Olympic silver medallist consolidated to a 13-7 lead. Then Yamaguchi came fighting back brilliantly to reduce the gap to just 3 points at 11-14 and finally, the Japanese player levelled the scores at 14-14.
It was an enthralling match of long rallies as both players continued to fight for each point. Yamaguchi was trailing 17-18 but took 4 points in succession to win the third set 21-18, progressing into the finals of the tournament.
