Fighting PV Sindhu loses in All England Championship semis

PV Sindhu returns to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan on Saturday. Pic/AFP

PV Sindhu produced yet another gritty performance, but her efforts were not enough to beat Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-19, 19-21, 18-21 in a thrilling semi-final of the All England Championship here on Saturday.

Yamaguchi will take on World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the final today.Sindhu, the Olympic silver medallist, had a good start as she took a 11-5 lead, but the Japanese fought back to make it 17-all. Sindhu recovered thereafter to win the first game 21-19. The contest witnessed a thrilling second game as well with both opponents going neck-to-neck. Trailing 9-12, Sindhu equalised at 12-all, but the second seed Japanese kept her cool to win it 21-19.

In the third game, Sindhu engaged her opponent in long rallies to take a 11-7 lead. Yamaguchi, however, recovered quickly to win seven of the next eight points to make it 14-all. Sindhu eventually lost the game and the match.

Meanwhile, on Friday night, HS Prannoy produced a gallant fight before going down narrowly to China's Huang Yuxiang in the men's singles quarter-finals. Huang beat the Indian 22-20, 16-21, 21-23 after an hour and 17 minutes fight in a nail-biting last eight match at the Arean Birmingham.

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