Watch: PV Sindhu loses cool at chair umpire, referee over 'unfair' point penalty; 'How can you give her the point?'
PV Sindhu eventually lost her semi-final against Akane Yamaguchi, and expressed her frustration over the “unfair” call.
Controversy erupted during PV Sindhu's semi-final against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final of the Badminton Asia Championships on Saturday, when the Indian shuttler was handed a point penalty for taking too much time to serve. The double-Olympic medallist was leading 14-11 in the second game – having won the first – when the chair umpire handed Sindhu a penalty for a delay in the serve.
The call from the umpire led to the 26-year-old Indian shuttler having a detailed argument with the umpire, further leading to an intervention from the chief referee. The incident eventually proved to be the turning point in the game as Sindhu conceded a defeat in the three-game thriller.
While Sindhu argued that Yamaguchi “was not ready,” the chief referee insisted that the decision was fair. The chair umpire had earlier warned Sindhu for late serve earlier in the match, but the decision to hand a point penalty to the Indian shuttler didn't sit well with many.
Watch the incident:
Sindhu didn't hold back her anger at the umpiring call during the post-match press conference as well.
“The umpire told me you’re taking a lot of time but the opponent wasn’t ready at that point,” said Sindhu after the match.
“But the umpire suddenly gave her the point and it was really unfair. I think that was one of the reasons why I lost. I mean that is my feeling because at that moment it was 14-11 and could have become 15-11 but instead, it became 14-12 and she took continuous points. And I think it was very unfair. Maybe I would have won the match and played in the final.”
Further talking about her conversation with the chief referee, Sindhu said that the footage should have been rechecked.
“I told the chief referee but he said it’s already done. I think as a chief referee, as the head of the referees, he should have at least seen what the mistake was and seen the replay and done something about it,” said the Indian shuttler.
