Tokyo Olympics: PV Sindhu goes down fighting, loses to Tai Tzu-Ying in semis

Indian shuttler PV Sindhu faced defeat in the semi-final of women's badminton singles event at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics by Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei. Sindhu lost to the world number one in straight games 18-21, 12-21 on Saturday (July 31). The match took place at Court 1 of the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. 

In the first set, both the players looked aggressive as they were fighting for each point. Sindhu was leading at the beginning with some power strokes. However, Tai Tzu showed strength and bounced back to level point 16-16 at a moment and went on to win it 21-18. 

Sindhu struggled and was completely outplayed in the second set as Tai Tzu Ying maintained a lead from the beginning and carried the momentum to win the set 21-12 and also the game. 

Next, Sindhu will try her luck in the bronze medal game on Sunday as she will face He Bing Jiao of China. She has the chance to become the first Indian female to win two Olympic medals. 

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Sindhu's form at Tokyo Games: 

The reigning world champion PV Sindhu had 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.