PV Sindhu after semifinal defeat: I should have taken the first game

P.V. Sindhu went down in straight games to World No. 1 Tai Tzu-Ying 18-21, 12-21 and squandered a chance to make it to a second successive Olympic final.

Sindhu will now face China's He Bingjiao in the Bronze Medal match on Sunday.

After a disappointing loss in the women's singles semifinals, P.V. Sindhu was keen to keep going to bring home the bronze medal on Sunday. Sindhu went down in straight games to World No. 1 Tai Tzu-Ying 18-21, 12-21 and squandered a chance to make it to a second successive Olympic final.

After the match, the 26-year-old said, "I should have taken the first game, that's what I felt. It's not easy but it was crucial. It's all in the game and I have to take it in a positive way. If I had won the first game, it would have been different.

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"Even in the second game, from the start I was fighting back and getting a couple of points but even she didn't make any unforced errors. At the end of the day it is the semifinal and everyone will be at their top level. It's a bit sad that I am not on the winning side but I have one more match to go so I need to keep my tempo going, recover soon and come back tomorrow."

After a nervy first set, Tai wrapped up the match in quick time after a slew of unforced errors from the Indian. On the second set, Sindhu said, "I think it's never over with the first set. Even though you lose the first set, there were many times where I came back in the second set and won the third set. So I didn't take it easy. I fought till the last point, even though she was leading by 5-6 points, because you never know it could change all of a sudden. She played well too."

Sindhu will now face China's He Bingjiao in the Bronze Medal match on Sunday.