India’s ace shuttler, 2016 Olympic silver medallist, PV Sindhu on Friday took another step towards an elusive badminton gold medal. The 26-year-old stormed her way to the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympics after beating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi. Wishes poured in as soon as the Hyderabad player came out victorious in a thrilling 21-13, 22-20 match. 

Sindhu made a strong comeback in the final set. From 18-20, she rose to 22-20 and won the decider. Yamaguchi, who was seeded 4th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had won the last 3 of the four meetings against the Indian.

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: India beat Japan 5-3 in men’s hockey Pool A match

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and badminton star Jwala Gutta were amongst the thousand others who congratulated Sindhu.

Here is how social media reacted to PV Sindhu’s special win:

“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.

Also read: Djokovic’s Golden Slam pursuit ends in Tokyo; Zverev dashes into final

“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. She had last beaten the Japanese at the All England Championship in March this year.

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: Australian canoeist Jessica Fox fixes kayak with condom

“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. China’s Chen Yu Fei and He Bing Jiao are the other two semifinalists.