2020 Tokyo Olympics: Tai Tzu-ying beats PV Sindhu in semi-final
What's the story
Chinese Taipei's ace shuttler Tai Tzu-ying beat India's PV Sindhu in the badminton women's singles semi-final clash on Saturday at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
It was a crunch contest as both players kept the intensity high.
Tzu-ying pocketed the first game 21-18. She was the better player in the second game (21-12).
Sindhu will have to fight for the bronze medal next.
Here's more.
Stat attack
Decoding the key stats between the two players
The 26-year old Sindhu now has a 6-13 head-to-head record against the 27-year old Tzu-ying.
Notably, Sindhu has now lost four successive matches against the Chinese Taipei shuttler.
The Indian last won against Tzu-ying at the 2019 World Championships final.
Sindhu had also beaten Tzu-ying at the Rio 2016 Olympics in straight games 21-13, 21-15.
Semis
Tzu-ying to face China's Chen Yufei for the gold medal
The first semi-final match in women's singles badminton between China's Chen Yufei and He Bingjiao went to a decider.
Top seed Chen won the first game 21-16 before He pocketed the second 21-13.
The deciding game went to Chen (21-12), who earned a brilliant run of 6 straight points in the early stages.
Chen appeared to be more pumped up and aggressive.
Tzu-ying
Tzu-ying's journey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Tzu-ying started her Tokyo Olympics journey by beating Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet 21-7, 21-13.
In the next match, she overcame Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam 21-16, 21-11.
In her third encounter, Tzu-ying Qi Xuefei of France 21-10, 21-13.
In the quarter-final clash against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, Tzu-ying prevailed after going down.
She won 14-21, 21-18, 21-18.
And now, she overcame Sindhu.
Sindhu
Sindhu's journey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Sindhu dominated against Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova in her opening round clash, winning 21-7, 21-10 in straight games.
She beat Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi 21-9, 21-16 to stay strong.
In the next match, Sindhu overcame Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt 21-15, 21-13.
In the quarter-final clash against Japan's star player Akane Yamaguchi, the Indian badminton ace prevailed, winning 21-13, 22-20.
She suffered a defeat today.
Do you know?
Sindhu to face He Bingjiao in bronze medal match
Sindhu is still alive at the Tokyo Olympics and will need to beat China's He Bingjiao in the bronze medal match. A win will help India get their third medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, it will be a second Olympic medal for Sindhu.