PV Sindhu kept medal hopes alive for India, despite the continuous knock-outs at the Rio Olympics. In a historic win on Tuesday, Sindhu defeated World No 2 Wang Yihan from China in the quarter-finals, becoming the second Indian shuttler to qualify for an Olympic semi-finals in the women’s singles, after Saina Nehwal. The 21-year-old Indian shuttler marked her win against the Chinese player in straight sets, 22-20, 21-19.
She previously put up a strong defence against the London Olympics silver medalist Yihan Wang in the qualifying match.
Yihaan, who was leading the second set, 19-18, lost to Sindhu, who made a comeback in the nerve-wrecking match. The game lasted 55 minutes as the two were at loggerheads to enter the last four.
Sindhu’s coach Pullela Gopichand said she could have done a notch better.
In an interview with Firstpost, Gopichand said, “It was good (the win against Wang Yihan) but in my book she can do a notch higher. There’s of course some chances of improvement in a couple of areas.”
While praising the young player he said, “It was really a good match, a spirited performance from the beginning. Both the players fought well. Sindhu stayed calmer and finished off. She showed great attitude.”
Now, the World No 10 is all set to face World No 6 Nozomi Okuhara from Japan in the next round.
