Badminton World Championships 2018: PV Sindhu expects another 'long match' against Nozomi Okuhara in quarterfinal

PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara
PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara

After vanquishing world no 9 Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea PV Sindhu believes that she will have to play yet another enduring match against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinal of the Badminton World Championships at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, in Nanjing, China, on Friday.

"Time to go back and rest up and prepare well for tomorrow's match. We have been playing against each other for a while and tomorrow will be yet another one and a very important one," said Sindhu.

Sindhu and Okuhara have had one of the most intense rivalries in modern-day badminton, with a number of their matches lasting for long durations, especially due to the long rallies that the two tend to play.

"I can tell you one thing. It will be a long match, so need to be prepared and give my 100 per cent," she further said.

One of the most epic matches that the two have played against each other, was the 2017 World Championship final in Glasgow, which lasted 110 minutes. While Okuhara came out with a 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 win, Sindhu will be hoping to turn the tide around in her favour, this time round.

A tough battle against the World No 9

Although she beat her South Korean opponent in straight games, Sindhu had to make a momentous comeback against Sung Ji Hyun in the second game. Having won the first round by a comfortable 21-10 margin, Sindhu found herself 2-7 behind in the second.

However, the ace Indian women's singles shuttler tightened her game, and made a brilliant comeback, to clinch the second game 21-18 in the end.

"Really happy with the performance. It was a good match overall even though I won the first game, the second was not easy where I was actually trailing (by five points)," said Sindhu after the match.

"I still had hope in me that the game was not over. The match was not over and each point was very important for me, because even after trailing I came back. Overall, it was a good match and there were lot of rallies, so I had to be consistent and very patient," Sindhu signed off.

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Edited by Soumo Ghosh