It was really unfair, I could have played the final: PV Sindhu

PV Sindhu was left in tears after an unfair call by the umpires midway through her semifinal match against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi. Two-time Olympic medallist was leading 14-11 in the second game after having won the first game.

But then, Sindhu was handed a point penalty for taking too much time to serve between points. And the call derailed her dream of winning gold at the Badminton Asia Championships.

The 26-year-old lost her momentum after that incident, losing 21-13 19-21 16-21 to eventually sign off with a bronze medal.

“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 unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost,” said Sindhu after the match on Saturday. “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,” she added.

When she told about the same to the chief referee, he came and said it is already done.

“Maybe, he should have seen the replay and should have done something about it,” she said.

Sindhu’s father PV Ramana said she was extremely disappointed.

“She was confident of winning gold this time and so was very disappointed. She was crying when she spoke to me but I told her that it is done and dusted and she should forget about it,” Ramanna said.

There were also speculations of Sindhu not accepting the bronze after she skipped the medal ceremony but the star herself put those to rest with a tweet and a candid picture of her posing with the medal.

“A medal at the end of an excruciating campaign is always special. This could have gone the distance. Looking forward to the next,” Sindhu tweeted.

(Inputs from PTI)