Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Indias campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships came to an end after P V Sindhu lost her womens singles quarterfinal match against Eriko Hirose of Japan in a hard-fought contest.
The unseeded Indian gave a tough challenge to her seventh seeded Japanese opponent before going down 19-21 21-16 11-21 in a battle that lasted exactly an hour. Sindhu,who had beaten former World No.1 Shixian Wang in a third round match on Friday,seemed to be in top form in the first two games before going down tamely in the third.
Although Sindhu could save three of those and reduce the gap to 19-20 but she fumbled to concede the game.
In the second game,the Japanese girl opened up with a 8-4 lead and continued to move ahead before world No. 16 Indian levelled at 14-14. Thereafter,it was no looking back for Sindhu as she claimed five consecutive points to take a 19-14 lead and eventually bag the game comfortably.
In the third and deciding game,Sindhu started off well and looked set for another tough fight with the game evenly poised at 5-5. But the Indian girl simply ran out of steam. While Eriko kept plugging away,Sindhu fell far behind and could win only six more points to lose it 11-21 in the end. Sindhu will now get ready to play in the upcoming India Open Super Series badminton,commencing on April 23 in New Delhi.
Injured Lin Dan concedes
Lin Dan cut short his first badminton tournament since he won his second Olympic gold medal when he conceded a walkover in the Asia Championships quarterfinals on Friday because of an arm injury. Lin,the unseeded former two-time Asia champ,won three matches to reach the quarters but withdrew and allowed sixth-seeded Chinese compatriot Wang Zhengming to advance. Since the Olympics last August,Lins ranking has fallen from No. 1 to 39.
