PV Sindhu slams refereeing after loss to Akane Yamaguchi in Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals

Indian badminton star PV Sindhu came down heavily on the refereeing after her loss to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships on Saturday. Sindhu lost to Yamaguchi in a grueling match 21-13, 19-21, 16-21. The loss meant Sindhu ended the campaign with a bronze medal.

Although PV Sindhu breezed through the first game 21-13, she lost momentum in the second game when she was leading 14-11 after an altercation with the referee over a point penalty.

The umpire thought the star Indian shuttler was taking too much time between her serves, leading to a penalty, which was followed by a small argument between Sindhu and the umpire.

Yamaguchi got the point, the serve, the momentum and narrowed the lead as the match slipped out of Sindhu's grasp.

"It was unfair" - PV Sindhu on the match umpire's decision

In a post-match interaction, PV Sindhu rebuffed the umpire's claims of her taking a lot of time and termed it an 'unfair decision'. She said it was one of the reasons why she had to end the Badminton Asia Championships with a bronze medal. Sindhu said:

"I think it is totally unfair on the part of the umpire. It was a very crucial moment in the match. I was in the lead at 14-11. The umpire told me, 'You’re taking a lot of time,' but the opponent (Yamaguchi) wasn’t ready at that point. The umpire then gave her (Yamaguchi) the point and it was really unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost."

Sindhu explained how the momentum shifted from herself to Yamaguchi and continued:

"That is my feeling because at that moment it was 14-11 (in her favor) and you never know it could have been 15-11. But all of a sudden, it became 12- 14 and she took continuous points. I think it was very unfair. Maybe, I would have won the match and played in the final."

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PV Sindhu said the chief referee could have done something about the decision but chose to go with the on-court umpire's call. She added:

"I told the chief referee but he said it’s already done. I think as a chief referee, as the head of the referees, he should have at least seen what the mistake was and seen the replay and done something about it."

The altercation gave Yamaguchi a slender opening to seize the initiative and push Sindhu on the back foot. Sindhu never seemed to recover from the shift in momentum and had to settle for a bronze medal.