Rio 2016: PV Sindhu Concentrating On Semis, Not Olympic Medal

After earning a sensational victory over China's Wang Yihan in the women's singles quarter-finals, Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu said that she is not thinking of a medal currently and that her focus is on the next match.

"It could have been anybody's game. I knew I would not get any easy points. I am taking one match at a time, rather than thinking of a medal. This was one of my memorable wins against Yihan. Hopefully there will be many more," Sindhu told NDTV.

Sindhu caused a big upset, stunning World No.2 Yihan in straight games to enter the semi-finals at the Rio Olympics. This was the World No.10 Indian's third victory over the former World Champion in seven meetings.

Faced against a much higher-rated opponent, the 21-year-old from Hyderabad scripted a 22-20, 21-19 victory in 54 minutes over the former World No.1 at the Riocentro Pavilion 4 in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Sindhu will face World no.6 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the last-four stage. Okuhara defeated compatriot Akane Yamaguchi 11-21, 21-17, 21-10 in a hard-fought all-Japanese quarter-final clash which dragged on for one hour and eight minutes.

Sindhu is now determined to produce a similar effort in the semi-finals and create history by becoming the first Indian badminton player to enter the Olympic final.

"Yes, this is one of the most satisfying wins that I have played. I have played Wang Yihan several times and sometimes she plays a different game. This one was one of the best and I hope it will happen in the next game," said the double World Championship bronze medallist.

"In the first game, she shot very well. My win was not really luck, since she played brilliantly. I was down in that game, but then I came back. Even though she was leading, I knew the game could change any moment. After that the score was going equal and it was not easy to get a point for either of us. We both played really hard."

Sindhu opined that she managed to be patient despite the numerous ups and downs during that game which worked in her favour.

"There was no particular turning point in the game, but there were big rallies and she was attacking well. In the beginning my shuttles were going out, but later on, they went perfectly," she remarked.

"If there was a turning point, it was that I was really patient. That worked."

Chief national coach and Sindhu's childhood idol Pullela Gopichand heaped praise on the star shuttler.

"Sindhu played really well and it was a very spirited performance. From the very beginning both the players really fought like hell. Sindhu had a good lead in the second game but Yihan recovered very well. Yet Sindhu remained calm and became aggressive in the last few points to finish it off," Gopichand said.

"She was playing to a specific plan and Sindhu straight got into retrieving action and negated Yihan's attack. She was smart and started attacking Sindhu's forehand right away but Sindhu gave it back with some great smashes," he added.

"All in all, great game by Sindhu who showed a very great attitude and a performance at a high level. There is chance of improvement in a couple of areas, but undeniably the way she fought and pulled the strategy through, it was very good. To feel confident about the defence and then do it at the big points is commendable," concluded the former All-England champion.

The coach asserted that Sindhu can challenge the best shuttlers in the world on a regular basis if she manages to become more consistent.

"She's performed well in big events, when she's had time to prepare well. She has been inconsistent a few times squandering leads, but it's part of growing up. She's young and she has time and age on her side," the 42-year-old asserted.

"She is a great fighter and has a great work ethic. In my book, she can do a notch higher, but what she did was fantastic."

(With inputs from Suprita Das and IANS)