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Badminton

PV Sindhu becomes first Indian shuttler to make it to 2 straight semi-finals at Olympics

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu continues her flawless run to become the only Indian badminton player to reach two Olympic semis on the trot after defeating Akane Yamaguchi.

PV Sindhu
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PV Sindhu in action agaisnt Akane Yamaguchi at Tokyo Olympics (Source: Getty Images)

By

Kalptaru Agarwal

Updated: 30 July 2021 5:16 PM GMT

One of the most promising shuttlers India has ever seen, the World No. 7 Pusarla Venkata Sindhu makes her nation proud by becoming the first-ever shuttler to reach two Olympic semi-finals in a row at the quadrennial Summer Games. The 26-year old World Championship gold medallist reached the semis both at Rio 2016 Olympics and Tokyo Olympics. She has surpassed the record of her compatriot Saina Nehwal who became the first to reach two quarters and one semi-final at the Olympics. Having already received that honor, she has now scripted another milestone in history.

India's shuttle queen, PV Sindhu defeated the 4th seeded Akane Yamaguchi, the home favourite in a thrilling contest of 21-13, 22-20 to reach the semis. Her win streak at the Summer Games has been pretty impressive as she hasn't lost a single game in her four encounters, leave out a match.

Saina Nehwal was the first player to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics at 2012 London where she bagged the bronze medal while PV Sindhu followed her footsteps to surprise everyone in Rio. The 6th seed Sindhu brought home Olympic glory by winning the silver medal and the same hope is attached to her name even in Tokyo.

She previously defeated players like Tai Tzu Ying, Wang Yihan and Nozomi Okuhara to reach the finals at Rio in straight sets. PV Sindhu is expected to face Tai Tzu once again in her semis. Every Indian fan will be wishing for her to repeat her performance from 2016 to defeat Ying and become the only player to reach two finals in a row.

Her track record in Tokyo has been exceptional. She topped her group stage winning both her matches without losing a game against K.Polikarpova of Israel and Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong. To reach the quarters, she had an easy win getting the better of Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark beating her by 21-15, 21-13.

Now by beating Yamaguchi, she has become an even stronger contender for the second time Olympics glory for her. The world awaits as Sindhu takes on the charge and believes to move past the semi-finals at Tokyo Olympics.

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