3 matches in 24 hours: PV Sindhu criticises badminton schedule after missing medal

If HS Prannoy's concerns about the badminton schedule were significant, PV Sindhu's experience offered a telling example of why players were unhappy.

Sindhu played three singles matches in 24 hours at the Asian Games, beginning with her second match on Saturday at 12:07 am on Sunday before returning to the court for her quarter-final against Chen Yufei around 1 pm later that day.

She appeared to tire as the three-game battle wore on, eventually losing 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 to the Chinese fourth seed.

Asked if she had ever played two matches at a major championship before, Sindhu did not mince her words.

"Not really, because the scheduling was not really well organised is what I feel," Sindhu said, according to PTI after India's campaign in individual events ended.

"We literally slept really late and then coming back in the morning (on Sunday), playing two matches in a day. Recovery is the most important priority."

PV Sindhu defeated world No. 7 Tomoka Miyazaki, with their third-round match ending as late as 1:30 am local time on Sunday. Sindhu returned to the court for her quarter-final against Chen Yufei less than 12 hours later.

In an unprecedented scheduling decision, all singles players played two matches on Saturday.

Asked how she prepared herself mentally to play three matches in 24 hours, Sindhu said the issue was not simply about mental preparation.

"It's more than mentally preparing, you need to recover. Even though you think you are doing good, physically you might not be able to go there or you might not be able to play."

"When there are long rallies, definitely yes, recovery. When you had a good thing, you would automatically (go) but your legs don't move.

"But I think apart from that it was a good game overall but it's just that the scheduling should have been a bit better."

Unnati Hooda, who also went down in a gruelling three-game quarter-final against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, was similarly unimpressed by the scheduling, although she stopped short of blaming it for her defeat.

"I will not blame my loss (in quarterfinals) to that but the scheduling could have been managed better," she said, according to PTI.

Prannoy's concerns were not limited to the unusual scheduling on paper. He pointed to the practical impact on players, recalling how the team-event medal ceremony ended around 11:15 pm, leaving athletes to travel for an hour, eat only around 12:30 or 1 am and, in some cases, return to the court at 9 am the next morning. He also questioned why the badminton competition could not be extended by a day when the Asian Games continued until October 4.NO REVIEW, NO RECOURSE

There was another source of frustration for Sindhu during her quarter-final.

Some of the line calls were extremely close, but Sindhu had no option to challenge them as Hawk-Eye was available only on the show courts. Sindhu played her quarter-final on Court 4.

"There were no cameras here. That was really sad. I felt that 2-3 shots were on the line. In the quarter-finals in the Asian Games, there should have been a camera is what I feel. Because these are the crucial matches."

Asked whether the line calls she felt went against her had unsettled her, Sindhu explained why the absence of a review system could prove costly.

"If you get that point, it is good. You have upper hand. You are playing with the cameras, playing with reviews.

"We can challenge it or if that's your point, you have a one point advantage. Sometimes an opponent is not able to move and the shuttle falls there and the line judge gives out. And you challenge, you get a point.

"So it's an advantage in a way. In the second game, I felt 2-3 shots were clear. But the line judge, you can't do anything about it."

And when the badminton competition ended on Sunday, India were left without an individual medal at the Asian Games for the first time in 12 years. The men's team bronze remained the country won in Aichi-Nagoya.- Ends