We are back at the World Championships after a year. The lingering memory of Glasgow has to be that of PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara barely standing after a behemoth of a final, both victor and vanquished having gone well and beyond the perceived limitations of the human body.
For Sindhu, it was not to be as the Japanese triumphed 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 in an epic final just ten minutes short of two hours. For Sindhu, it was a second silver medal in 12 months after an equally heart-breaking loss to Carolina Marin in the final of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
(Relive their World Championships final: When the irresistible Indian met the indomitable Japanese)
As they gear up to face each other once again at the World Championships, the record reads 6-5 in the favour of the Japanese as the duo gear up to trade blows once more. The pair have met four times since that night in Glasgow.
Sindhu bounces back to win Korea Open
Three weeks on, Sindhu and Okuhara were back on court facing each other in another final. This time in Korea, it was the tall Indian who triumphed in another marathon.
Okuhara was on this occasion taken aback by Sindhu’s hand speed as the Indian did better at crucial junctures, able to close out the longer rallies. Amrish Shinde, her travelling coach stated that Sindhu had been able to execute her strategy better during the big points.
Pullela Gopichand’s work with Sindhu on her cross-court drops also reflected in the Hyderabadi shuttler’s play. After a close loss in the first game, Okuhara looked like she would seize the momentum as in Glasgow, but Sindhu held her nerve in the third as she won 22-20, 11-21, 21-18.
Okuhara wins one-sided Japan Open final
Only three of the past 11 meetings between the pair have not gone to a deciding third game. If Okuhara was swept aside 21-19, 21-10 in Rio, she gained her own measure of little revenge in the most-lopsided match played between the two.
In a match that took place only four days after their Korea Open clash, the Japanese needed only 47 minutes to brush Sindhu aside. While the Japanese was flawless, Sindhu struggled with multiple unforced errors.
Sindhu let her opponent gain too many easy points, as Okuhara amassed six points in the first game and eight in the second on a trot to punish her Indian opponent and win 21-18, 21-8.
An all-round, all-England Sindhu display
These two once again showed their abilities to get the best out of each other at the biggest of stages. This time, it was the All-England Championships which witnessed a 84-minute humdinger in the quarter-finals.
This time, it was the Indian who played a more patient defensive game and showed resilience in forcing Okuhara to go for the kill earlier than she would have liked on many points, drawing errors from the Japanese.
Sindhu trailed 12-16 in the decider but switched gears and strategies to win 20-22, 21-18, 21-18.
Okuhara too good in Thailand
The Japanese edged ahead in their head-to-head rivalry 6-5 as she defeated Sindhu in straight games once again. The opening exchanges did make it seem like the match would go the distance like most of their other classics but Okuhara went about closing the gap at will.
Sindhu threw her biggest smashes, the kitchen sink and more at Okuhara but the Japanese returned everything at will as she closed out the first game 21-15. The Indian had no answer to Okuhara’s flurry of strokes in the second game as she lost the game 18-21 and the match.
With this loss, Sindhu lost her third final of the year, after defeats in the Indian Open and the Commonwealth Games final.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!