PTI
Rio de Janeiro, August 17: A visibly elated PV Sindhu rated her win over London Olympics silver medallist Yihan Wang as one of the best moments of her career and stated that she is hoping to maintain her good form against Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals of the Rio Olympics.
The Indian shuttler defeated the World No.2 Chinese in straight games in a women’s singles match to keep alive India’s medal hope in badminton. The focus will also shift to her as in the men’s quarterfinals, Kidambi Srikanth went down narrowly to two-time defending Olympic champion Lin Dan.
Asked about her initial feelings on reaching the semifinals, Sindhu said: “It’s a very different feeling, one of the best moments. I hope there will be many more to come,” the World No. 10 said after her 22-20, 21-19 victory to become second Indian after Saina Nehwal to reach last four at the Olympics.
Sindhu, however, is not ready to put any undue pressure on herself. “Look if you play well, you will automatically win and a medal will come. So I am focused fully on my next match.
Sindhu stated that her patience and ability to remain calm helped her win crucial points against the Chinese.
“There were big rallies, she was attacking well. My smashes were going out initially. But I was patient and persisted with my tactics. I think more than anything else, the ability to remain composed really helped me to win,” stated the Hyderabadi girl.
“I never thought I would lose this, because any moment anything can change. It was not so easy to get points, both of us fought for every point. It was very close, in both the games. She also played brilliantly,” stated Sindhu.
In the second game Sindhu led 18-14 only to find herself suddenly down by a point as Yang reeled off five points in a row.
“In the second game, even though I was leading 18-14, she came back, played really well. After 19-all there were long rallies and it was anybody’s game,” pointed out Sindhu.
Unlike Saina, she has not had any fitness issues. Sindhu reminded that when one is pitted against a World No 2, there is nothing called luck factor as one needs to really pull out all stops to win.
“I was prepared for long rallies, as she was attacking and even retrieving well. There was no luck factor involved. We both played to the best of our abilities, it could have been anybody’s match,” stated the shuttler who will be playing her maiden Olympic semifinals.
This was Sindhu’s second successive win against the Chinese who had a 4-2 win-loss record against the Indian.
