Tokyo Olympics badminton: PV Sindhu enters semifinals after beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in straight games

PV Sindhu hits a shot against Japan`s Akane Yamaguchi in their women`s singles badminton quarter final match. Pic Alexander Nemenov/AFP

Reigning world champion PV Sindhu kept India's hopes of winning a first-ever Olympic gold in badminton alive as she reached the semifinals of women's singles with a fighting straight-game win over world no 5 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi.

The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, defended brilliantly and rode on her attack to outclass the fourth-seeded Yamaguchi 21-13 22-20 in a 56-minute quarterfinal clash at the Musashino Forest Plaza. She will next face the winner of the other quarterfinal between Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon and Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying.

The sixth-seeded Indian came into the match with an 11-7 head-to-head count against the Japanese, whom she had last beaten at the All England Championship in March this year. On July 29, Sindhu had notched up a straight-game triumph over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt, 13th seed, in the pre-quarterfinals. She was the lone Indian in fray in badminton after men's singles player B Sai Praneeth and men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy failed to qualify for the knockout stage.

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