Asian Games, badminton: PV Sindhu says she ‘made a lot of errors’ after loss to Pornpawee Chochuwong | Asian-games News
PV Sindhu was once again stifled into submission after her attack came undone after the opening set, and she had no retort to a resilient opponent. Playing Pornpawee Chochuwong in the opening singles of the Asian Games team event quarterfinals, fighting for a medal, Sindhu went down 21-14, 15-21, 14-21 as India lost the tie 3-0 atat Binjiang Gymnasium on Friday.
Sindhu took a lead winning 21-14 in the opener, but her suspect endurance over the past year has meant she is prone to taking the foot off the pedal and it tends to go all downhill from there.
She would once more be gobsmacked after pocketing the first. “I was in control in the first game and in the second game it was 4-4 and then suddenly I’ve given her the lead and the time I recovered it was too late,” she would admit. These patches of poor play blow up into major leads. “I made a lot of unforced errors. There were long rallies where I was catching up but it was not enough,” she told the Games website adding she ought to have controlled the shuttle more.
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She conceded her association with coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim was still knew and it would take time to strike a bond.
“When you have a coach, he needs to understand the body and you need to have that bonding where you understand each other.” Her reliance on a good coach though remains all important. “Because he’s sitting outside (the court) he knows much more about what makes I’m making and an opponent’s weaknesses. So it’s important to have that understanding between a coach and an athlete.”
“He’s been here for two months. We’re still working on it but it’s getting better,” she stressed.
Chochuwong ranked No 12 in the world to Sindhu’s 15 took her time to absorb the Indian’s attack before she unleashed her own. “She’s very good at attacking so today I knew I had to cover the court. I defended first and then changed my game. I was patient and then attacked,” she said.
After Ratchanok Intanon got injured ahead of the Asian Games, the responsibility to retain their bronze and go better in the team event, had fallen on Chochuwong. She would revel in the opportunity of taking on the top players in the team eebt. “It was great playing her in the Asian Games because she’s one of the top players in the world. I came here telling myself that I will try my best. I didn’t put pressure on myself and tried every single shot.Most Read
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Chochuwong grew in confidence after she dragged the momentum her way early in the second, and led 11-8 at interval. “My best worked out. I feel like in the third (game) I was more in control and I became more confident after the second. I was more relaxed and didn’t make makes.”
Sindhu has tended to get bogged down once she loses the initiative, and once more she couldn’t get back in the groove once the lead was conceded. India were depending on Sindhu to get a fighting chance, but the rest of the pack followed in the same lackluster fashion as her.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly first fought back and then lost tamely 21-19, 21-5 to world No 10 Rawinda Prajongjai and Jonkolphan Kititharakul, while Ashmita Chaliha went down to Busanan Ongbamrungphan losing 21-9, 21-16.
