PV Sindhu falters in Thailand Open final
Fourth seeded Okuhara dominated the proceedings to beat the second seed 21-15, 21-18 in 50 minutes.
New Delhi: P.V. Sindhu suffered a straight game defeat to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the summit clash of the $350,000 Thailand Open World Tour Super 500 badminton tournament in Bangkok on Sunday.
Fourth seeded Okuhara dominated the proceedings to beat the second seed 21-15, 21-18 in 50 minutes.
It was Sindhu’s third disappointment in a final this year following her defeats in the summit clash of the India Open and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Okuhara came up with some aggressive net play, which forced Sindhu to commit unforced errors and the Japanese pocketed four straight points to wrap up the first game.
Sindhu showed aggressive intent along with delicate net play to race to a 5-1 lead in the second game. But some unforced errors and wrong judgements from the Indian allowed the Japanese to pocket five straight points to alter the scoreline to 7-6 in her favour.
Both the players went neck-and-neck thereafter till 14 apiece when Okuhara once again upped the tempo to take a 17-16 lead and then clinched three straight points to pocket the game and the title.