Ace shuttler and Rio Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu has eased to the semifinals of the women singles badminton at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Sindhu defeated local girl Akane Yamaguchi in straight sets (21-13, 22-20) in today's quarterfinal match.

Earlier, boxer Lovlina Borgohain assured the country of its second medal at the Tokyo Olympics when she upstaged former world champion, Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei, to enter the semifinals.

The sixth-seeded Indian, who has a 11-7 head-to-head count against the Japanese world number 5 dominated the game as she eased past her opponent. Sindhu, who won silver in the same event in Rio will look to improve her performance this time.

The fact that she was not in her best form before the commencement of the tournament makes her victory even sweeter.

(Corrigendum:

An earlier version of this copy incorrectly said that PV Sindhu was assured of a medal in the Tokyo Olympics. There will be a bronze medal match for the semi-finalists who don't advance.)

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Jul 30, 2021 2:50 PM IST