Shuttler PV Sindhu, who stunned everyone by defeating world No. 2 Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals, has created history by becoming the first female Indian badminton player to reach the finals of Olympics.
She defeated world No. 6 Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals. She won the match 21-19, 21-10 to reach the finals. Sindhu was on top of her counterpart throughout the first game. She had the lead 4-1 at the start and never let Okuhara take control. She was controlling the game until the score became 19-17 after which the game was very close. It was 19-18, 20-18 and 20-19 before Sindhu finally won the game 21-19. Okuhara tried very hard to pull the game back but Sindhu kept her cool.
She started the second game with a brilliant 3-0 lead. However, it was short lived and Okuhara won 5 straight points to make it 3-5. The match was in the balance during the mid game break when the score was 11-10 with Sindhu having a one point advantage. Just after the break, Sindhu decided to change gears and took the attack to Okuhara and turned the game on its head by winning six straight points and making the score 16-10.
Watching the match, it became clear that it was only a matter of time before she won the game. She made five quick points and won the game 21-10.
She will now play in the finals against world No. 1 Carolina Marin. Sindhu is guaranteed a silver medal but all the Indians would be hoping that Sindhu can win a gold medal in this edition of the Olympic Games.
