Manila (Philippines), May 1: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was left in tears after an “unfair” call by the umpires midway through her semifinal match against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi derailed her dream of winning a gold at the Badminton Asia Championships.
Leading 14-11 in the second game after having won the first game, Sindhu was handed a point penalty for taking too much time to serve between points.
The 26-year-old from Hyderabad lost her momentum after that incident, losing 21-13, 19-21, 16-21 to eventually sign off 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 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.” “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. May be, he should have seen the replay and should have done something about it.” Sindhu’s father PV Ramana said Sindhu was extremely disappointed with the decision.
“She was confident of winning a 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.
Sindhu was seen having an animated discussion with the chief referee after the chair umpire asked her to hand over the shuttle to her opponent but it all fell on deaf ears.
“What umpire did was not correct. If she was delaying, then you could have warned her with a yellow card and if you are penalising her with a point then at least show a red card and give the point but there was nothing of that sort,” Ramana 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 picture of her posing with 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. (PTI)
