Jakarta: PV Sindhu remained in the hunt for a historic Asian Games badminton gold medal after a tense win but Saina Nehwal settled for a bronze following her 10th straight defeat against World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying, here Monday.
World No.3 Sindhu beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 15-21, 21-10 for her second win over the Japanese at the Asian Games, having beaten her in the team championship as well. The energy-sapping 65-minute match featured a 50-shot rally in the decider, which Sindhu won.
World No.10 Saina played with good intensity but lost 17-21, 14-21 to a superior Tai, who stood out with her court coverage and retrieving in the 32-minute contest.
Sindhu will have to punch above her weight as she has not managed to beat the Chinese Taipei shuttler in the last couple of contests. Syed Modi’s bronze in men’s singles at the 1982 Games in New Delhi was the only individual medal for India at the Asian Games. So Sindhu has already created a history of sorts by guaranteeing herself an individual silver medal.
Sindhu dominated the rallies and created an 11-8 lead at first break. The Indian remained solid at the net, using a variety of stroke to force the Japanese World No.2 to make errors. A long rally ensued at 20-17 but Yamaguchi sent a smash wide to put the Indian ahead.
In the second game too Sindhu remained the dominant player but unforced errors crept in and she lost the lead and Yamaguchi duly made it 1-1.
The Indian reeled off four points in a row to shoot to 7-3 in the deciding game, before taking the break with a 11-7 lead. She also won a sensational 50-shot rally to pull away 16-8. With such a big lead at hand, Sindhu finished the match in her favour with a superb smash.
In the Saina-Tai match, it was the latter who took a 4-1 lead. However, Saina came back with some deft drop shots to tie the score at eight-all.
After the break, the Chinese Taipei shuttler took four straight points to zoom to a 15-10 cushion, leaving Saina to play the catch up game. She won the game easily. The second game was hard-fought till 12-all, after which Tai broke away to win.