PV Sindhu lost to Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals, and she expressed her dissatisfaction with the “unfair” call.
PV Sindhu semi-final match against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the Badminton Asia Championships on April 30th, 2002, sparked controversy when the Indian shuttler was given a point penalty for waiting too long to serve. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, was leading 14-11 in the second game after winning the first when the chair umpire gave her a penalty for a serve delay.
Following the umpire’s call, the 26-year-old Indian shuttler had a lengthy debate with the umpire, prompting the chief referee to intervene. The incident ultimately proved to be the game’s turning point, as Sindhu was defeated in the three-game thriller.
While Sindhu said Yamaguchi “was not ready,” the chief referee felt the ruling was correct. Although the chair umpire had previously warned Sindhu for late serving earlier in the match, the decision to penalise the Indian shuttler with a point penalty did not sit well with many.
Yamaguchi battled back and won the game to advance to the third game of the match. After dominating the third game, the Japanese won the semi-final.
During the post-match press conference, Sindhu didn’t hide her displeasure with the umpire’s decision. “The umpire told me you’re taking a lot of time but the opponent wasn’t ready at that point,” said Sindhu after the match.
She further added that the umpire awarding her the point unexpectedly was quite unjust. One of the reasons she lost, she believes, was because of this. She said this was her impression because the score was 14-11 at the time and might have easily risen to 15-11, but instead it fell to 14-12,
and the opponent continued to score. Perhaps she believes that she would have won the game and advanced to the final.
Sindhu went on to say that the tape should have been rechecked after her interaction with the chief referee.
She said that she talked to the chief referee, but he said that it was already done. As a chief referee, as the head of the referees, he should have at least seen what the mistake was, seen the replay and done something about it.
Published by: Ifa Zamzami
