She can do better: Gopi

World number 10 Sindhu, who has a 1-3 win-loss record against Nozomi, has never beaten the Japanese since Asian Youth Under-19 Championship in 2012 and has lost on three consecutive occasions in 2014, 2015 and the last being Asian Team Championship in Hyderabad in February 2016. 

“It was good (the win against Wang Yihan) but in my book she can do a notch higher. There’s of course some chance of improvement in a couple of areas,” Gopichand said after Sindhu beat Wang to make the semis. Sindhu gave away six easy points at a crucial stage in the second game to hand Yihan a 1918 lead, but the Indian did well to scrape through in a 55-minute battle of nerves.

“She’s been inconsistent a few times and squandered leads but I think it’s part of her learning experience. She’s still young, and has age on her side. I think she’s a great fighter with great work ethic,” Gopichand said about the 21-year-old Indian. Rating the win as one of the biggest in Sindhu’s career, her coach said, “I think definitely, it’s one of the biggest. The (Olympic quarterfinal) stage makes it special. She played really well and was all fired up.” 

“It was really a good match, a spirited performance from the beginning. Both the players fought well. Sindhu stayed calmer and finished off. She showed great attitude. Sindhu straightway got into a a good retrieving capacity to negate Yifan’s attack. It was very close call in all the games.”