India’s top women’s singles shuttler and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu crashed out of the BWF World Championships 2023 in round 2 after suffering a shock defeat to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.
Sindhu, the 16th seed squared off against the former world number 1 on Court 2 in Copenhagen as she bowed out after losing in straight sets 21-14, 21-14. Astonishingly, the Indian shuttler held a lead of 9-0 in the second game before she allowed her Japanese counterpart to make a splendid comeback.
Okuhara showed great grit and determination to fight back from 9-0 down to 11-9 at the break in the second game but the errors continued to follow for Sindhu who lost six points in a row to trail 14-10.
From then, it was 18-14 and then the writing was on the wall for Sindhu as she exited the tournament in the round of 32. The contest lasted for 44 minutes, and the 15th-ranked Indian shuttler in BWF rankings could barely put up a fight.
She did win the most consecutive points in the game, but Okuhara won a total of 42 points compared to Sindhu’s 28.
Earlier, Sindhu’s compatriot Lakshya Sen advanced into the pre-quarterfinals, beating Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin.
It is the first time in her career that Sindhu, seeded 16th, has failed to reach the quarterfinals at the prestigious tournament.
Sindhu and Okuhara, best known for their marathon 110-minute-long 2017 World Championships final in Glasgow, have always produced engaging contests but the second-round match at the Royal Arena turned out to be a lop-sided contest.
The duo has been troubled by injuries in the last 12 months and had missed the last edition. Sindhu came into the match with a 10-8 cushion but her game lacked the attacking prowess.
Facing off after three years in slow conditions, both the players went for high tosses and clears, looking to draw errors from the other but it was the former world number one Okuhara, who came up trumps with her precision.
After an initial duel of 6-6, Okuhara managed to grab three points and enter the break with a two-point lead.
The Japanese made it 16-12 after pouncing on a weak return at the net.
The Indian continued to go wide and long as Okuhara moved to 19-12 with a precise cross-court return.
Another shot going wide from Sindhu gave seven-game points to Okuhara, who converted after the Indian went wide again.
The change of sides saw a shift of momentum with Sindhu racing to a 9-0 lead following a series of unforced errors from Okuhara.
Okuhara, however, slowly started to dominate the rallies and reeled off five straight points with few good placements before making it 9-10.
A cross-court shot helped Sindhu to gain a two-point advantage at the interval.
Okuhara started catching her rival at the front court and grabbed six points from 10-12 to turn the tables on the Indian.
At 13-16, Sindhu unleashed a trademark cross-court smash to let out a cry but she couldn’t control her mistakes and eventually gave six match points to Okuhara, who sealed the contest after the Indian went long again.
With Inputs from PTI
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