Tokyo Olympics: With eyes on medal, badminton star PV Sindhu to face fierce rival Tai Tzu-Ying in semis
PV Sindhu and Tai Tzu-Ying
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu defeated Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 22-20 in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 women's singles event and took a step closer to win a medal. As she booked a place in the semi-final, she will face a familiar rival — Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-Ying.
Although the head-to-head record between the two is not in favour of the26-year-oldIndianshuttler, but she will try to draw inspiration from Rio Games in order to forge ahead and win a gold medal, that she had missed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and returned home with silver after being defeated by Sapin's Carolina Marin in the final.
However, Sindhu carried her outstanding form further and won the World Championships gold in 2019 after ending her campaign's at the World Championships in 2017 and 2018 with silver medals. She also won the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Sindhu's form at Tokyo Games:
The reigning world champion PV Sindhu defeated Yamaguchi in the quarter-final with a combination of aggression and defence, she stormed through to the semis. Earlier, she had entered the women's singles quarterfinals after beating Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in straight games in the Round of 16 match. Sindhu had defeated world No. 34 Hong Kong's NY Cheung 21-9 21-16 to top Group J.
Semi-final: PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu-Ying:
Sindhu and the current World No. 1 Ying have locked horns multiple times in the past and the recond is in the favour of Chinese Taipei's star, who currently looks in a great form. Both of them have played in 18 matches and Sindhu has won just five.
Ying faced disappointment at the Rio Games when she was knocked out in the round of 16 fixture after being defeated by none other than PV Sindhu and now she is expected to come out all guns blazing.
Details about the match:
The semi-final match between PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu-Ying will be played on 31st July, 2021 (Saturday). The match will begin at 3:20 PM IST.