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PV Sindhu showed immense character and strength to beat Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals of BWF World Championships 2018 played at Nanjing, China on Saturday. It was an epic match where the silver medalist of last year’s World Championship did not lose hope despite being down in both games.
In the first game, Yamaguchi started on an aggressive note with a 5-0 lead. Sindhu then took 3 points in succession to make it 3-5 in favor of Yamaguchi. The Japanese played attacking badminton and led 8-5.
Sindhu then made a strong comeback to level the scores at 8-8. Both players took alternate points till 10-10. At the interval, Yamaguchi led 11-10.
After the interval, the Indian from 12-12 took points in succession which made life tough for the Japanese. Sindhu eventually won the first set 21-16.
Like the first game, Yamaguchi started the second game on a positive note, taking an early 4-1 lead. The Japanese continued her aggressive play and made life tough for PV Sindhu. At the interval, Yamaguchi had an 11-7 lead.
After the interval, Yamaguchi continued her domination to take a 19-12 lead. It was then that Sindhu made a stunning comeback to take 7 points in succession and level the scores at 19-19.
It was a close fought match between these two players taking alternate points till 22-22. Sindhu ultimately held her nerves to win the second set 24-22 and move into the finals.
It was an outstanding performance by the Rio Olympic Silver medalist who showed great fighting spirit after being down in both games. She has a chance to claim the gold medal when she takes on Spain's Carolina Marin in tomorrows final.
The two of them had also met in the finals of Rio Olympics finals in 2016, which Marin won.
