After rallying to win the first game in a tie-break, Sindhu lost 21-23, 21-18, 21-11 against three-time world champion Yamaguchi, handing Japan a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Unnati Hooda will look to level the tie for India in the second rubber against Tomoka Miyazaki.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Before this match, the two players had met 30 times, with Sindhu edging the head-to-head record with 16 wins. With Tuesday's loss, the head-to-head between the two is 16-15, still in Sindhu's favour.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sindhu did well to cover up the 6-10 deficit, reaching 12-12 staging another comeback from 15-18 and saving a game point to win the opening game 23-21.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the second game, fighting back from 12-17 down, Sindhu has reeled off a burst of quick points to close the gap to 16-18. Yamaguchi immediately responded to the nudge ahead 19-16, only for Sindhu to unleash a smash that the Japanese player failed to retrieve. But that isn\u2019t enough to prevent Yamaguchi from claiming the second game 21-18.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sindhu did well to cover up the 6-10 deficit, reaching 12-12 staging another comeback from 15-18 and saving a game point to win the opening game 23-21.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India\u2019s women have won just one Asian Games team medal, a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games. In the 2023 edition, Indian women bowed out in the quarterfinal after losing 0-3 to Thailand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n