All England Championships: PV Sindhu vows to come back stronger post Yamaguchi defeat

Birmingham: Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu on Sunday vowed to come back stronger after losing an epic semifinal against World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi at the All England Championship here.

In a nail-biting semifinal, fourth seed Sindhu went down fighting 21-19 19-21 18-21 to Yamaguchi after battling for an hour and 19 minutes on Saturday night.

“It was just not my day. I gave my 100%. There are always up and downs and one should win and one should lose. There were long rallies and she played well,” Sindhu said after the gruelling contest.

“Playing a three-game tie is not easy. Just 2-3 points made the huge difference in the end as it was anybody’s game. I have a lot of things to learn from this tournament. You keep losing and winning but it was a good tournament and I have to come back stronger.”

Yamaguchi, who had won the German Open early this month, said it was her aggressive approach that earned her the win. “This win is very valuable asset for me. I am thankful that I got a chance to fight tomorrow. I was just trying to keep up with the pace and hang on. I was aggressive in the end and it led to the win,” she said.

Yamaguchi will face World No. 1 Taiwanese Tai Tzu Ying in the final.

Asked about her opponent, the 20-year-old Japanese said: “She is aggressive and has got speed and great retriving skills and I will give everything I got and just want to enjoy the match.”