Jakarta: India’s star shuttler PV Sindhu had to settle for silver as she failed to overcome top seed and World number 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles badminton final here at the 18th Asian Games on Tuesday.
It is the first time that India has won two individual medals at the Asian Games with Saina Nehwal clinching a bronze earlier. Saina was also conquered by Tai in the semifinals.
The Taipei player was deceptive in her strokes and pulled away with a 17-10 lead.
She would change the angle and direction of the stroke very easily, making it difficult for Sindhu to anticipate and find appropriate returns. The first game was over in just 16 minutes.
To negate Tai’s strong net game, Sindhu tried to push her back to the baseline in the second game. It got her points but she lost too many points due to unforced errors as some of the shots sailed over the lines.
The strategy could have been more effective if she had not missed drop shots after pinning Tai to baseline.
Initially, Sindhu was tied with Tai at 4-4 but as the game wore on, the Taipei shuttler continued to tighten her grip over the contest. An un-returnable smash put her ahead 15-10.
It was over soon with Tai earning a match point with Sindhu netting a shuttle at 15-19.
Sindhu saved the first match point with a smash winner on Tai’s backhand. The Taipei ace sealed it with a drop shot winner.
