PV Sindhu: Park Tae-Sang’s support kept me focused against Yamaguchi
The world number seven booked a berth in the semi-final with a win over Akane Yamaguchi.
PV Sindhu registered a straight games (21-13 22-20) win over Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a badminton women’s singles quarter-final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday.
Thought it seemed like a straight-forward win, the Indian had to save two game points in the second set against the Japanese shuttler.
The sixth seed was down 18-20 in the second game but did well to comeback and stun Yamaguchi, who is ranked fifth in the world.
“I'm happy but it's not over yet. For me it's time to go back, relax and get ready for the next match. I'm happy but I need to prepare for the next match,” said Sindhu to Badminton World Federation (BWF).
She acknowledged that Yamaguchi came back well in the second game as despite leading 15-9 at one point, the Japanese took the score to 18-20. The 26-year-old also mentioned that she did make a few mistakes, something she has to be more careful about.
“There were some very long rallies. The second game was very important, I was leading and Akane came back - so I couldn't relax. On my side there were a few errors,” said Sindhu.
She thanked her coach Park Tae-Sang, who helped her keep her nerves at a critical juncture of the match. Sindhu hasn’t yet dropped a game in four matches at Tokyo 2020, which highlights the form that he is in ahead of the semi-final.
Sindhu will face Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-Ying in the semi-final match on July 31st in what promises to be an enthralling affair.
“I wasn't nervous even though she was at game point, my coach was saying: 'It's okay, keep the focus and you'll get there'. He was constantly supporting me and that got me by and I'm happy I got back in two games,” she mentioned.