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Sindhu must start afresh in bronze medal match, says father

August 01, 2021 07:19 IST

P V Sindhu

IMAGE: India's P V Sindhu faces China's He Bing Jiao in Sunday's bronze medal play-off match at the Tokyo Olympics. Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Pusarla V Sindhu will have to quickly recover from the painful defeat to Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals and make a fresh start when she faces China's He Bing Jiao in Sunday's bronze medal play-off match at the Tokyo Olympics, says her father P V Ramana.

 

The reigning World champion, who won the silver medal at the 2012 Rio Olympics, faces another stiff test in China's Bing Jiao in the third place play-off game.

"Tomorrow, she has to be more cautious and more careful and give her best to get a medal for the country," Ramana, who was a member of India's 1986 Asian Games volleyball team that won the bronze medal, said.

"She should forget the defeat, though it is painful for any player to play for third and fourth position, and take Sunday's contest as a fresh match."

Ramana, an Arjuna awardee, said Tai Tzu did not give Sindhu any chances during the semis.

"When a player cannot come into the rhythm, obviously, all this happens. Yesterday (Friday), she (Sindhu) was in a good rhythm. She was able to come back to the normal game and she could catch (Akane) Yamaguchi. Today, Tai Tzu has not given her any chance at all," he said.

"Tai Tzu's every drop shot, everything has gone into success. Actually, the strategy to play against Tai Tzu is... we need to keep the shuttle in rally at least 25 to 30 shots. So that chance was not there today."

Congratulating Tai Tzu for the way she played, Ramana said: "Tai Tzu was in full command of the match. She was also eager to win a medal in the Olympics or in the World Championships, which she could not do all these years though she has been number one on several occasions."

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