PV Sindhu proved to be no match to the guile and speed of world number one Tai Tzu Ying and went down 21-13, 21-16 in just 39 minutes to clinch a silver medal in the ongoing Asian Games in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old was clearly the underdog going into the summit clash against Tai and needed a special effort if she aimed to end a run of four loses in the finals in 2018. But it was the eventual champion who was first to get off the blocks as she raced to a 5-0 lead before Sindhu could win her first point of the match.
There was a clear pattern to the match as Tai kept the points short and ensured that Sindhu did not get many chances to employ her booming smashes. The average length of rallies was just 11 strokes through the match and the Indian managed to win the longest rallies in both the games.
However, she barely managed to prolong the rallies as Tai would catch her on the wrong foot from the back court or the front court with ease. And when the Indian did manage to get the upper hand and win a couple of points in a bunch to grab the momentum, Sindhu was guilty of making elementary errors on her serve to hand the point to her opponent.
The loss notwithstanding, Sindhu did create history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to win a silver medal at the Asian Games while Saina Nehwal clinched the bronze medal to ensure that India had two medallist on the podium in the same event for the first time in the continental games.
With the Asian Games medal in her kitty, Sindhu now has two silver medals from the World Championship and another silver from the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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