Two-time Indian Olympic medalist PV Sindhu failed to reach the top of the women’s singles after battling Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi in three matches at the Roland Garros badminton tournament on Saturday. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad lost a match in advance to lose 21-18 16-21 12-21 to world number 15 Takahashi, bronze medalist at the 2013 and 2014 Asian Championships. It was her fourth loss to the 29-year-old Japanese in eight games.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, lost in the quarterfinals at the Danish Open last week in Odense. The world number 7 Indian started the game on a high note as there wasn’t much to separate the two. The duo played short rallies, trying to outdo each other with their offensive shots.
After going neck and neck from 5-5 to 9-9 in the opener, Takahashi unleashed a powerful smash that hit Sindhu’s cheeks, to lead 10-9, but the Indian recovered to equalize. scores with a cross smash. The Japanese had a slim one point advantage at the break.
After the break, Sindhu quickly erased a two-point deficit with a diagonal return before taking a one-point lead after winning a 27-stroke rally. Takahashi exploited Sindhu’s weak backhand to regain the advantage. She added another point with a lucky clean chord, but the Indian threw three straight smashes to make it 17-16.
An error in judgment on the forecourt and two clear mistakes by Takahashi gave Sindhu four match points. The Indian wasted two before slamming a winner to pocket the first game. After the change of ends, Sindhu continued his momentum, leading 5-2 from the start. However, Takahashi regained his way again at 6-6, with Sindhu missing out.
The Indian showed excellent defense, sending a ball over Takahashi to the baseline, then unleashed a stiff smash to lead 9-6, and had a nose ahead in the interval. However, the Japanese southpaw was back in the lead at 13-12 after the break with Sindhu making a series of mistakes.
At 13-15, Sindhu slammed another smash but was again abandoned by her backhand as suddenly Takahashi took an 18-14 lead. Sindhu attacked her rival’s forehand but produced a nice block return to grab four game points and sealed it when the Indian passed by.
The decider started off with the same intensity as the duo led 6-6, but Takahashi started to dominate the proceedings and quickly took an 11-6 advantage at the break, with Sindhu going to the net and the Japanese producing a low blow. line break. Despite a pep talk from coach Park Tae-Sang in the interim, things did not improve for Sindhu as Takahashi rolled over his offense to score points easily, leading 14-9.
The Japanese placed the points well and closed them with offensive returns on both sides. With Sindhu unable to master his mistakes, Takahashi grabbed a massive nine-point match point. The Indian saved one before the Japanese sent one to the line to shut the doors on his imaginary rival. This is Sindhu’s second tournament since returning to action after a hiatus from her campaign at the Tokyo Olympics, where she won a bronze medal, five years after winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Rio.
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