Rio de Janeiro: She fought like a champion and went on to conquer the World No. 2 and London Olympics silver medallist to reach the women’s badminton singles semi-final at Rio Olympics, here on Tuesday. Shuttler PV Sindhu brought some cheers for the Indians, who are still in anticipation of a medal at the 2016 Olympics, by beating China’s Wang Yihan 22-20, 21-19 in the quarters.
Sindhu, the two-time World Championship bronze medallist, who has a 2-4 head-to-head record against the Chinese, dished out stuff made for champions and won a close encounter against the seasoned Chinese campaigner in 54 minutes.
The Indian shuttler is now just one win away from assuring India an elusive medal at the Rio Olympics. Sindhu will now face the winners of the last quarterfinal between Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara on 18 August for a place in the final.
Meanwhile, India's Greco Roman wrestler Hardeep Singh lost his opening round bout in the 98 kg category by technical points to Turkey's Ildem Cenk at the Rio Olympics. The Turkish wrestler won the bout 2-1. However, Hardeep will still have a chance in the repechage if Cenk makes it to the final.
In between, World Anti-Doping Agency lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports against the clean chit given to wrestler Narsingh Yadav by NADA in the dope scandal back home. If CAS upholds WADA's appeal Narsingh, who is scheduled to fight in the 74kg freestyle category on 19 August, will not only be able to take part in the Games here but could also face a career-threatening four-year ban.
