Sindhu upset over umpiring but accepts medal

PTI

Manila, May 1

Two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu, who suffered a bitter defeat to Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinals of the Badminton Asia Championships, skipped the medals ceremony because she had a flight to catch, not because she was upset over umpiring in the match.

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 really unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost… A medal at the end of an excruciating campaign is always special — PV Sindhu

After the defeat, Sindhu said that but for an “unfair” decision by the umpire, she would have played in the final.

Leading 14-11 in the second game after having won the first game in the semifinals, Sindhu was handed a one-point penalty for taking too much time to serve between points. The 26-year-old lost her momentum after that, losing 21-13 19-21 16-21 to end up with a bronze medal, her second in the continental individual championship.

“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 really unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost,” said Sindhu.

“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.

“I told the chief referee, he came and said it is already done. As a chief referee, you need to at least make sure what was the mistake. Maybe he should have seen the replay and should have done something about it,” she said.

Flight to catch

There was speculation that Sindhu would not accept the bronze medal as she skipped the medal ceremony, but she put it to rest by tweeting a photograph of herself 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.

Sindhu’s father PV Ramana, asked if his daughter had thought of not accepting the medal, said: “Nothing like that, she accepted the medal, it is just that she had to rush for a flight back home, so she took permission from the authorities. See, Sindhu has to go to Uber Cup (May 8-15, Bangkok) and there were no direct flights available from Manila to India for tomorrow and day after. If she had reached on May 4, she would have missed out on a few days of training ahead of the Uber Cup.”