PV Sindhu slams organisers in scathing post after Asian Games heartbreak
PV Sindhu has hit out at the Asian Games organisers after her quarter-final exit in women's singles, saying the punishing schedule had taken a toll and questioning the absence of video review during her defeat to China's Chen Yufei.
Sindhu lost 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 to the World No. 4 on Sunday after taking the opening game comfortably. The Indian was locked at 18-18 in the second game before Chen won three straight points to take control of the contest, eventually forcing a decider and winning it 21-10.
Sindhu said those three points have continued to play on her mind.
“My Asian Games campaign is over, and I’m hurting. Three points from closing out that quarterfinal. I keep coming back to those three points,” Sindhu wrote in a social media post.
The former world champion also suggested that the absence of a video review system had added to her frustration. Sindhu played her quarter-final on Court 4, where video referral was not available, with the system being used only on Courts 1 and 2 at the Asian Games.
She felt some of the close line calls could have gone her way and potentially changed the momentum of the second game.
The scheduling had also left Sindhu with little time to recover between matches. She played three singles matches in roughly 24 hours, with her third-round contest against Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki ending around 1:30 am on Sunday before she returned to the court for her quarter-final against Chen less than 12 hours later.
“Three matches in 18 hours. Back at 3 a.m., out again at 8:30 a.m. It took a toll,” Sindhu wrote.
The demanding schedule had affected other singles players as well. Unnati Hooda also played three matches in roughly 26 hours before losing to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals. Screengrab: X I'M HURTING: PV SINDHU
The compressed schedule had also drawn criticism from other players at the Asian Games. China's women's doubles World No. 1 Tan Ning said she felt the schedule was unfair, while India's HS Prannoy had questioned the short turnaround times, particularly for players who had competed in the team event.
For Sindhu, however, the disappointment of the quarter-final defeat was accompanied by a sense of pride over her fourth Asian Games appearance.
“From my first Asian Games in 2014 to my fourth now, twelve years of giving everything for India,” she wrote.
“I want to let myself feel that. One painful result cannot define a journey that means so much.”
Sindhu also made it clear that the defeat had not diminished her desire to continue competing.
“My team and I are already working on closing out those moments. We will fix it,” she wrote.
“I’m hurting, but that’s okay. I’m glad it still means enough to hurt this much. I still want this. I still bring all of myself to that court.”
India's campaign in the badminton individual events ended without a medal at the Asian Games for the first time in 12 years. The men's team bronze remains India's only badminton medal in Aichi-Nagoya.- Ends
