Although her opponent Nozomi Okukara was seeded third for the competition and started as favourites to win the match, she was given absolutely no window to make a comeback.
Pusarla Sindhu of India hits a return against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan during their women's singles quarter-final match at the Indonesian Open badminton tournament in Jakarta on July 19, 2019. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
Indian star badminton player PV Sindhu produced arguably one of her best performance of the season as she defeated Nozomi Okuhara in two straight sets as she made her way into the semifinals of Indonesia Open, happening in Jakarta on Friday.
Although her opponent Nozomi Okukara was seeded third for the competition and started as favourites to win the match, she was given absolutely no window to make a comeback in the match after she had lost the first set 21-14.
It took Sindhu just about 44 minutes to wrap up the match, registering a win by 21-14, 21-7. However, for neutral spectators, the much-anticipated match turned out to be a one-sided knockout match.
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It was only during the initial moments of the match that Sindhu was taking a bit slow but once she got going there was no stopping her. Perhaps her three-point lead in the first set when she was leading at 11-8 was the game-changer. Her performance had a brilliant display of aggression as well as defence which proved to be too good for her opponent on the day.
Interestingly, the duo has produced some high-quality clashes in the past known for their long and well-fought rallies. However, Okuhara struggled to win points against her Indian opponent on Friday.
Notably, earlier this year, Sindhu had been defeated by the same opponent at the Singapore Open. Sindhu has not been as consistent as she would have liked in 2019. She was knocked out of the first round of Sudirman Cup and also failed to go past the second round at the Australian Open in June.
However, post that she took a break from her hectic schedule and it seems like it has done a world of good to her performance.
The Indian shuttler avenged her straight-game defeat at Singapore Open from earlier this year with a commanding display of badminton.
Sindhu will now face Chen Yufei on Saturday in the semi-finals. She is the only Indian player to stay in the race for a medal in the competition.
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