Asian Games: Sindhu loses to Yamaguchi in opening match as Japan take 1-0 lead in women’s team QF

Ichinomiya City, Sep 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) India badminton ace PV Sindhu lost the opening tie of the women's team quarterfinal against Akane Yamaguchi here at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Tuesday.

After rallying to win the first game in a tie-break, Sindhu lost 21-23, 21-18, 21-11 against three-time world champion Yamaguchi, handing Japan a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal.

Unnati Hooda will look to level the tie for India in the second rubber against Tomoka Miyazaki.

Before this match, the two players had met 30 times, with Sindhu edging the head-to-head record with 16 wins. With Tuesday's loss, the head-to-head between the two is 16-15, still in Sindhu's favour.

Sindhu did well to cover up the 6-10 deficit, reaching 12-12 staging another comeback from 15-18 and saving a game point to win the opening game 23-21.

In the second game, fighting back from 12-17 down, Sindhu has reeled off a burst of quick points to close the gap to 16-18. Yamaguchi immediately responded to the nudge ahead 19-16, only for Sindhu to unleash a smash that the Japanese player failed to retrieve. But that isn’t enough to prevent Yamaguchi from claiming the second game 21-18.

The decider turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Yamaguchi dominating Sindhu. The physical toll of the gruelling exchange started to show on Sindhu early, who trailed 4-11 at the mid-way mark. The contest ends for Sindhu in an 11-21 defeat.

India’s women have won just one Asian Games team medal, a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games. In the 2023 edition, Indian women bowed out in the quarterfinal after losing 0-3 to Thailand.

Source: IANS