Rio 2016: PV Sindhu storms into badminton women's singles semi-finals

Woo hoo!!! As the Rio Olympics moved to day 12, India’s spontaneous shuttler PV Sindhu once again proved her excellence at the sport when she stormed into the semi-finals of the badminton women’s singles after beating world number 2 Wang Yihan 22-20, 21-19. With this win, Sindhu has become only the second Indian woman player to reach the semi-final of at an Olympic Games after Saina Nehwal reached the same stage at the 2012 London Games.

#RioWithTOI Shuttler @Pvsindhu1 beats world no 2 Yihan 22-20, 21-19 to enter women's singles semi-finals #badminton pic.twitter.com/uF2vam8uI5

— TOI Sports News (@TOISportsNews) August 16, 2016

Hats off to Gopi for doing this for the second Olympics in a row. He believed and got her ready. He told me in Hyd Sindhu has a shot

— Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) August 16, 2016

Sindhu in good form at the presser too! "Was prepared for the long rallies" pic.twitter.com/qoSz2yo6Ai

— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) August 16, 2016

That's what victory feels like. What a win! #Sindhu #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/RU6izIpkvS

— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) August 16, 2016

N we reach the semis..... pv sindhu ..... wat a player!!!!☺☺☺ pic.twitter.com/1e4q5gvzvm

— Karan Wahi (@karan009wahi) August 16, 2016

Sindhu's father PV Ramanna took eight months off to help his daughter prepare, drove her every day at 4am to Gopi academy

— Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) August 16, 2016

The tenth-seeded Indian triumphed in a straight game, showed remarkable skills and dominated her opponent in smashes and fitness. With a great combination of aggression and defence,  Sindhu knocked down once the London Olympics silver-medallist and a much higher rated opponent to seal a spot in the semi-finals.

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The 21-year-old had scripted a 21-13, 21-15 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying on Monday night and advanced to the quarter-finals. The lanky player from Hyderabad will take on the winner of the match between Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi, both from Japan, in the semis on the 18th, giving India hopes of a debut medal.  Good luck, Sindhu.

Feature image credits: financialexpress.com

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