3 reasons why PV Sindhu lost against Tai Tzu Ying in the women’s singles semifinal at Olympics 2021

PV Sindhu once again failed to crack the code against Tai Tzu Ying and went down in the women’s singles semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.

Billed as the final before the final, the match saw top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei extend her dominance over sixth-seeded PV Sindhu to storm into her maiden Olympic final.

The reigning world champion, Sindhu, lost the first game 18-21 and was outplayed in the second game 12-21 in a match that lasted 40 minutes.

World No. 7 Sindhu will now face He Bing Jiao of China in the bronze medal match on Sunday. The left-handed He Bing Jiao was edged out by compatriot Chen Yu Fei in the other semifinal in three games.

World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying will now clash with Chen Yu Fei, who won 21-16, 13-21, 21-12 against Jiao, for the gold medal on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Indian badminton queen still has the chance to become the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals if she gets the better of Jiao.

1. Sindhu could not take advantage of a good start

After losing the first two points of the match, Sindhu regrouped herself well to catch up and then take a four-point lead. At 8-4, it looked like Sindhu would go on to claim the first game.

At the mid-game break, Sindhu was in control with a comfortable 11-8 lead. She should have stepped up the pace and increased the lead at this juncture.

However, the tall Hyderabadi failed to capitalize as Tai staged a remarkable comeback to clinch the first game 21-18.

2. Sindhu has a mental block against her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying

After a spirited first game, Sindhu was outplayed in the second. Barring a brief period, Sindhu was always struggling in the second game while Tai dominated. Tai found her best rhythm towards the end. Once the Chinese Taipei star captured the first game, it was just one-way traffic.

Sindhu had no answers to Tai’s placements, varietiy and sumptuous crosscourt drops. It was a quality display from the world No. 1, who recorded her fourth successive win over Sindhu and bettered their head-to-head record to 14-5. Sindhu has a mental block against Tai and it was evident yet again that she needs something special to break the losing sequence against her nemesis.

3. Tai’s deception and variation floored Sindhu

It was the sheer deception from Tai which grounded Sindhu. The Indian came into the match high on confidence with four straight-games victories. The aggressive display against Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinal raised the hopes of her fans but Tai did not allow Sindhu the same freedom.

Tai's extraordinary overhead strokes caught Sindhu wrong-footed on numerous occasions. She frustrated the Indian with exceptional baseline-to-baseline clearing on the backhand. Tai's pace, coupled with the length of her drives and smashes, undid Sindhu's game. She did not allow Sindhu to gain momentum and dictated the pace of the match.

Sindhu did not attack enough and played too many high shuttles, much to Tai's liking. The Indian was just not allowed to play her natural game that propelled her to victory against Yamaguchi on Friday.