Lovlina, Sindhu keep India’s gold run alive
NEW DELHI: India is not only eying at least two gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the next few days, but also its first in one sport and the first gold in another.
Reigning world champion PV Sindhu kept alive India’s hopes of a first-ever gold medal in badminton by reaching the semifinals of the women’s singles with a straight-game win over world No 5 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, but it was debutant Lovlina Borgohain who stole the show at the Tokyo Games on Friday.
The 23-year-old Assam boxer is assured to get the country its first boxing medal at the Olympics when she upstaged former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei to enter the semifinals.
Borgohain, a two-time world championship bronze-medallist
and the first female boxer from Assam to qualify for the Games, prevailed 4-1 and displayed tremendous calm in the face of a plucky opponent, who had beaten her in the past.
She was aggressive to start with, followed it up with a tremendous counter-attacking game and kept her defence tight in the final three minutes to emerge triumphant. The youngster, who was laid low by COVID-19 last year and missed a training trip to Europe because of it, let out a huge scream after the referee raised her hand, pent up emotions finally getting the better of her.
And she was smiling ear-toear after making the semifinals but also well aware that the task is only half done.
“Isi ladki se 4 baar haar chuki hun (I had lost to her [Nien-Chin Chen] four time earlier), all I wanted to do was prove a point to myself by being fearless against her. I was just looking for revenge,” she said in an online media interaction. “I enjoyed myself in this bout, khul ke khela. There was no strategy, no plan. I knew her from before, the plan wasn’t even needed,” she added.
Borgohain face reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, who hammered Ukraine’s Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal bout, in the last-four stage on August 4
“I have a few days, I will see her videos and figure out what to do with her,” she said.
“I will say even thank you to people after the final. Abhi kya bolun. Medal to bas gold hota hai, let me get that first,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Sindhu, 26, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, defended brilliantly and rode on her attacking allround game to outclass the fourth seeded Yamaguchi 21-13 22-20 in a 56-minute quarterfinal clash at the Musashino Forest Plaza.
“The first game was mostly under my control. I was gaining the lead but I didn’t take it easy because in her previous matches she came back. But I maintained the lead and finished it off,” Sindhu, seeded sixth, said.
“In the second game I was leading but then she came back. But I still fought back, I never lost hope and I continued with the same tempo. I am very much happy with the way I controlled the shuttle, not many errors,” she added.
Yamaguchi had scripted a late comeback in the second game, grabbing two game points but Sindhu ensured there were no hiccups, registering her 12th win over Yamaguchi in 19 meetings.
One of the highlight was the Japanese, known for her retrieving skills, dragging Sindhu into an energy-sapping rally which had an extraordinary 54-stroke exchange. It ended with Yamaguchi sending the shuttle at the backhand of Sindhu, who was gasping for breath. Yamaguchi grabbed two game points, fuelling hope of a turnaround but Sindhu responded with authority. She unleashed a straight-down-theline smash and then set up another point with a smash and a great follow-up to make it 20-20.
Another precise half smash down the line gave her a match point and she screamed her heart out in joy after Yamaguchi found the net next.
“I wasn’t nervous even though she was at game point, my coach was saying: ‘It’s okay, keep the focus and you’ll get there’. He was constantly supporting me and that got me by and I’m happy I got back in two games,” Sindhu said.
“I have really worked hard for this and it is not over it. For me it’s time to go back, relax and get ready for the next match. I’m happy but I need to prepare for the next match.” Sindhu will next face second seed Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, who edged out Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon 14-21 21-18 21-18 in another quarterfinal match.
The world No 1 Tai Tzu, whom coach Park Tae-sang considers as Sindhu’s biggest rival, has an overwhelming 13-7 advantage against the Indian. Sindhu, who has lost to Tai Tzu in last three occasions, however, has managed to outwit the Taiwanese shuttler in important events such as the 2016 Rio Games, 2019 World Championships and 2018 World Tour Finals.
Meanwhile, The Indian men’s hockey team registered a comprehensive 5-3 win over hosts Japan to cement its quarterfinal spot with a second-place finish in Pool A on Friday.
Already assured of a quarterSubsequently, final berth going into the match, India scored through Gurjant Singh (17th, 56th), Harmanpreet Singh (13th), Shamsher Singh (34th) and Nilakanta Sharma (51st) to register their third consecutive win at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
By virtue of this win, India finished second in Pool A behind Australia with four victories out of five Games. India’s lone defeat -- a 1-7 drubbing -came at the hands of Australia.
The top four teams from each pool of six qualify for the quarterfinals.