Badminton
Tokyo Olympics: Badminton LIVE Day 8 — PV Sindhu's loses super semifinal against Tai Tzu-ying — Updates, scores, results, blog
It's the ultimate clash as World No. 7 PV Sindhu and World No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying get ready to meet at the Olympic stage once more - will history repeat itself today?
PV Sindhu and Tai Tzu-ying (Source: Getty images)
Welcome to The Bridge's LIVE blog for Badminton on Day 8 of the Tokyo Olympics.
Expect things to sizzle at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza as two of the bests in the game - World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying from Chinese Taipei and India's PV Sindhu, the World No. 7 will battle it out for a spot in the finals and the opportunity to fight for a gold or a silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Ever since PV Sindhu returned with a silver from Rio Olympics, her mind has been trained on upgrading the Rio silver to a Tokyo gold and she is almost close to the finish line but the biggest challenge now awaits her in the semi-finals itself.
While it is the very first semi-final outing for Tai Tzu Ying at an Olympics, there is no underestimating this Queen of Deception as she can rescue just about any match from any condition and PV Sindhu will have to bring her A-game here and not let Tai, who is the favourite here by a close margin, find any chink in the Sindhu armour. It is bound to be a heated battle with both players being in their top forms and passionately hungry for a medal. PV Sindhu hasn't dropped a single game coming into the semis here at the Tokyo Olympics while Tai was made to survive a scare in the quarters as Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon almost showed her the door.
Being familiar foes, the Tai Tzu Ying and PV Sindhu clash will promise a lot of drama and have a lot of history on the line!
You can find the match report here.
Follow our LIVE updates here:
Live Updates
- 31 July 2021 10:31 AM GMT
The Queen of Deception off to a great start!
Tai Tzu Ying off to a great start but Sindhu comes back to equal the score (2-2)
- 31 July 2021 10:29 AM GMT
Que the fireworks!
And we are off, with Sindhu set to serve in what is to be a cracker of a match.
- 31 July 2021 10:25 AM GMT
It is almost that time!
We are just a few moments away from witnessing one of the most epic matches.
- 31 July 2021 10:22 AM GMT
Chen Yufei secures her place in the Finals!
Chen Yufei wins the deciding game 21-12 against her compatriot He Bingjiao and is set to face either Sindhu or Tai Tzu-Ying.
- 31 July 2021 10:13 AM GMT
Chen leads 14-9!
Chen leads by 14-9 in a well-contested game 3, due to her intense and aggressive gameplay, which her compatriot is struggling to keep up with at the moment.
- 31 July 2021 9:59 AM GMT
Y.F. Chen leads 6-3!
Chen with an aggressive comeback after He Bingjiao pulls a game back and leads game 3, 6-3 after scoring five straight points.
- 31 July 2021 9:51 AM GMT
We are moments away from a chance to rewrite history!
History beckons as we are a few precious moments away from the beginning of what might be a milestone day for both Sindhu and our country.
- 31 July 2021 9:41 AM GMT
He Bingjiao dominates in the other Semi-Finals!
World number 9, He Bingjiao leads game 2 by 11-6 after a 21-16 loss in game 1 against compatriot Y.F.Chen.
- 31 July 2021 9:31 AM GMT
Cometh the moment, cometh the woman!
Despite Tzu Ying having the better head to head record, she has lost to Sindhu when it mattered the most, such as the Round of 16 in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2019 World Championships. The World number 1, despite holding on to the rank for a record 148 weeks, has not won a World Championship title or gone past the Quarter-Finals in the Olympics. Sindhu, meanwhile, has proven herself to be a big game player and ups the ante when the stakes are higher.
- 31 July 2021 9:22 AM GMT
Sindhu goes into the match in better form, with Tai Tzu Ying having the better H2H record!
Sindhu stormed into the Semi-Finals with a dominant win against World number 5 Akane Yamaguchi while, Tai Tzu Ying almost suffered yet another shock exit in a major event with a hard-fought win against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon. Sindhu has her task cut out for her as Tzu Ying has the better head to head record, leading 13-5.
