INDIAN badminton champion PV Sindhu has progressed to the semi-finals in Tokyo after a thrilling win that keeps her country’s hopes for a gold medal alive.
The 26-year-old defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-13 and 22-20 on Friday.
Sindhu, who is one of India’s top medal hopes this time, won a silver at the last Olympics in Rio and a gold at the World Championships in 2019.
She put Yamaguchi under pressure right from the start, using her trademark mastery over smashes.
She also played well closer to the net, displaying good control over the game throughout. This was the 19th match between Sindhu and Yamaguchi – and it marked the Indian star’s 12th win against the Japanese player.
Yamaguchi, who is ranked fifth in the world, had an edge at the start of the first game, but Sindhu, who is ranked seventh, quickly took charge and dominated thereafter.
The second game was more balanced, with Yamaguchi fighting back to end the deficit. She took seven points on the trot to make the score 15-15 before taking a one-point lead.
Both players fought hard for each point from here on, with Sindhu overhauling Yamaguchi’s two-point game lead to win the match.
Sindhu’s win is a welcome respite for India after a heartbreaking week.
Boxer Mary Kom, whose life inspired a Bollywood film, 19-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker, and 27-year-old archer Deepika Kumari, who won three golds at the World Cup in Paris, have all crashed out.
Sindhu is one of India’s biggest sports stars and a household name in a country that largely reveres cricketers.
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu shot to fame in 2019 with her unexpected win when she became the first Indian world badminton champion. But this time expectations are high.
“I was just a participant back then, but now everyone says Sindhu has to get a medal,” she told the BBC recently.
In 2018, she took the seventh spot in Forbes magazine’s 2018 list of highest-earning female athletes, with a weekly income of $163,000. She was earning some $8m then from endorsements alone.
Indian athletes have only won 28 Olympic medals – its best Olympic performance was in London in 2012 when the country netted six medals.
Indian women have won six medals but never an Olympic gold – Sindhu was the first to win a silver in 2016 in Rio.