Why did PV Sindhu skip Badminton Asia Championships medal ceremony?

Earlier on Saturday, Sindhu lost to Akane Yamaguchi by 21-13, 19-21, 16-21 in the semifinals of the women's singles event.

With Sindhu's absence from the medal ceremony, many on Twitter started speculating that Sindhu had actually decided to boycott the ceremony as she was livid by the umpiring standards in the semifinal of the tournament. However, there has not been any official statement made by the player or any authority regarding the matter.

Incidentally, Sindhu had the semifinal match in her control after winning the opening game by 21-13. She was even leading 13-11 in the second. However, a point penalty for time-wasting completely changed the scenario of the match.

The call from the umpire led to the 26-year-old Indian shuttler having an argument, which further led to an intervention from the chief referee.

The Indian reckoned the referee's penalty which got the score to 14-12 in the middle of the second game, was the turning point of the match. It impacted her so much, that she lost her momentum and gave away the match in three games in 66 minutes. After the penalty, Sindhu could win only 21 points against Yamaguchi's 30 points.

Sindhu expressed her thoughts and shared how disappointed she was during the post-match press conference as well.

"The umpire told me you're taking a lot of time but the opponent wasn't ready at that point. But the umpire suddenly gave her the point and it was really unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost. I mean that is my feeling because at that moment it was 14-11 and could have become 15-11 but instead, it became 14-12 and she took continuous points. And I think it was very unfair. Maybe I would have won the match and played in the final."

Further talking about her conversation with the chief referee, Sindhu said that the footage should have been rechecked. "I told the chief referee but he said it's already done. I think as a chief referee, as the head of the referees, he should have at least seen what the mistake was and seen the replay and done something about it," said the Indian shuttler.

Often a player, who exits a tournament before the finals, skips attending the medal ceremony of the match which happens on the day of the final. Many choose to leave the venue on the day of their exit and travel back to their respective home country. However, it is yet to be clear why Sindhu exactly decided to skip the medal ceremony on Sunday.