India's P V Sindhu lost to Japanese second seed Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals of the All England Open BWF World Tour Super 1000 in Bimingham on Saturday.
The Rio Olympic Games silver medallist lost 21-19, 19-21, 18-21 in an hour and 19 minutes to Yamaguchi, who will face top seed and defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles final on Sunday.
In the first game between Sindhu and Yamaguchi at the Arena Birmingham, the Indian made it a mere formality by taking a 16-8 lead before easing up.
But Yamaguchi refused to surrender, equalising at the 17-point mark before Sindhu realised that the job is half done. The Indian then secured two points to lead 19-17 before winning the game 21-19.
But the Asian Games medallist Yamaguchi managed to move ahead and led 18-14 before again the Indian showed her fighting ability to force Yamaguchi to sweat. The Japanese won 21-19.
Sindhu proved to be stronger at the beginning of the decisive third game. The three-time World Championships medallist dictated the play and raced to a 13-7 lead. But Yamaguchi refused to give up, pulling through difficult moments to equalize at the 14-point mark to make it an open game.
Later, Sindhu led 18-17 but the Japanese snatched four consecutive points to clinch the game 21-18 and storm into her maiden All England final.
Tai and Yamaguchi have faced 10 times before, with both of them winning five times.
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