India’s teen sensation P V Sindhu had to settle for a bronze medal

Gimcheon (Korea): India’s teen sensation P V Sindhu had to settle for a bronze medal after her gallant fight against top seed Shixian Wang of China ended in a narrow three-game defeat in the semifinals of the Asian Badminton Championship in Gimcheon on Saturday.

In women’s doubles, Jwala and Ashwini failed to breach the defence of Luo Yu and Luo Ying, and suffered a 12-21 7-21 loss to the world number 10 Chinese pair.

The 18-year-old fought hard for one hour and 18 minutes before losing to the two-time reinging All England champion Shixian 21-15 20-22 12-21 in the women’s singles competition.

The Hyderabadi shuttler had beaten Shixian thrice in the past, but the world number two Chinese had the last laugh in the last two occasions.

“Overall, Sindhu played well. It was an extremely close and long match. She was up 20-18 but she lost two points while serving. You need a bit of luck in such close matches. Its okay, at the end of the day, you will win some and lose some. I am happy with the way she is playing,” National Coach Pullela Gopichand told PTI.

“It was a close match and she could have won it in the second game itself.

But I guess she needs a little bit of experience to consistently beat these Chinese players. Also probably, Sindhu needs to work more on her backhand and forehand returns. Anyways, now she will be playing in Sudirman Cup, so that is the next target,” said Sindhu’s father Ramana, who received the Arjuna award in 2000.

In the women’s doubles match, former world number 13 pair of Jwala and Ashwini suffered for their inconsistent and inaccurate strokes. The Indian duo tried to engage in long rallies with their rivals but faltered while finishing the points.

India ace Saina Nehwal had won the bronze in 2010 Asian Championship in New Delhi. Sindhu has been in good form in recent times as she won the bronze at the world championship, besides wining titles in Malaysia and Macau in 2013.