Indian badminton player PV Sindhu criticised the Asian Games organisers after her quarter-final defeat to China’s Chen Yufei, raising concerns over the demanding schedule and the absence of a video review system on the court where she played.
Sindhu lost 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 on Sunday after taking the opening game comfortably. The defeat came after a closely contested second game in which Chen won three successive points from 18-18 to shift the momentum before securing the deciding game.
Sindhu said the three points in the second game continued to occupy her thoughts after the match and suggested that the availability of video review could have affected some of the close decisions. Her quarter-final was played on Court 4, where video referral was not available, while the system was being used on Courts 1 and 2. Sindhu indicated that some line calls could have gone differently and potentially changed the momentum during the crucial stages of the second game.
The Olympic medallist also questioned the scheduling of the women’s singles competition, saying the limited recovery time had affected her performance. She had played three singles matches in roughly 24 hours, with her third-round contest against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki finishing at about 1:30 am on Sunday. Sindhu then returned to the court for her quarter-final against Chen less than 12 hours later, leaving limited time between the two matches.
The demanding schedule was not limited to Sindhu, with other players also facing short turnarounds during the competition. India’s Unnati Hooda played three matches in roughly 26 hours before losing to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals. China’s women’s doubles player Tan Ning also criticised the scheduling, while Indian men’s singles player HS Prannoy had raised concerns over short recovery periods, particularly for players who had participated in the team event.
Despite the disappointment, Sindhu said she remained proud of her fourth Asian Games appearance and the years she has spent representing India. She reflected on her participation in the Games since 2014 and said one difficult result would not define a journey that had been significant to her. The quarter-final defeat also ended India’s hopes of winning a medal in the badminton individual events at the Games, leaving the men’s team bronze as the country’s only badminton medal in Aichi-Nagoya.
Sindhu said the loss had not reduced her motivation to continue competing and that she and her team were already working on the moments that proved decisive against Chen. She acknowledged the disappointment while saying that the result had reinforced her desire to improve and compete at the highest level. Her comments combined criticism of the competition schedule and review arrangements with a determination to continue her career following the quarter-final exit.