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PV Sindhu battled hard with Nozomi Okuhara in a rematch of their epic 2017 World Championships final to carve out a tight 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 win in the quarter-finals of the All England Open 2018 in Birmingham, England on Friday. This is the first time that the lanky Indian shuttler has made it past the last-eight stage at the world’s oldest badminton tournament.
Out of her previous five attempts, her best result had been a quarter-final finish, which she achieved last year.
India’s best performance in three years
This is also the first time since Saina Nehwal’s run to the final in 2015 that any Indian has reached the semi-finals across all disciplines at the All England Open, thus establishing India’s best performance at this event in three years.
Later at night, HS Prannoy has a chance to join Sindhu in the semi-finals if he manages to get past the World No. 42 Huang Yuxiang, who prevailed over Kidambi Srikanth in the second round.
With her quarter-final win in a classic that lasted 1 hour 24 minutes, Sindhu has now evened the head-to-head record with Okuhara at 5-5. She came to this match with her back against the wall, having lost their last encounter in the second round of the 2017 Japan Open.
Sindhu also spent more than two hours on the court as she laboured to two three-game wins. In contrast, the Japanese was the fresher one as she did not concede even a single game.
Much like their Glasgow blockbuster, the two began trading shot after shot right from the beginning, giving promising signs of yet another marathon. The diminutive Okuhara began her array of trademark high tosses to keep the tall Sindhu on the run and targeted the vulnerable backhand of the Indian most of the time.
By varying the angles and directions of the shuttle, she was able to keep Sindhu guessing. The Indian had a game point at the end of a long opener at 20-19 but a smash into the net, brought about by the snapping of her racquet strings, forced her to squander it.
Okuhara capitalized on her chances and bagged the game 22-20.
The second game continued in the same fashion with not a lot to choose between the two. Sindhu grabbed a three-point advantage at 15-12 only to see Okuhara wrest the momentum back and inch ahead to 18-16.
Under pressure, Sindhu brought forth a sterling quality of play, keeping her nerves calm as the former All England Open champion collapsed into a heap of errors. The Indian took the second game as Okuhara’s failed attempt at a dropshot saw the shuttle trickling to her side of the court.
The Japanese had the early momentum in the decider and opened up a 4-1 lead, using her reverse slice. The determined Sindhu rode on her aggression to even the score at 6-6.
After the mid-game interval, it was again the Japanese who looked the more comfortable of the two and surged to 16-12. Just when the long rallies appeared to tire Sindhu out, she found a second gear.
With brutal attack and pinpoint accuracy, she made a dent in Okuhara’s confidence to storm back and keep it level till 18-18. Sindhu raised her level further, winning a net battle that very much took the match out of the world champion’s hands.
Sindhu went for risky shots after that as she targeted the lines. Both her next couple of points landed in, as proved by Hawkeye on match point, gifting her the victory.
