Did Indian Badminton Queen Won the Thailand Women’s Singles Final?

The Women’s Singles World No. 3 lost the summit clash against her long-term nemesis Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the straight games with 15-21, 18-21 in the 50-minute fight at the Thailand Open 2018 to mark a 5-6 win-loss score.

The Indian started off the game in a slothy way, which was a good chance for the Japanese to pick up the pace and lead with 6-2. Sindhu tried hard to level the score and with a couple of smashes, she reduced the deficit with 4-6. By the break, yet, Sindhu trailed with 8-11.

Okuhara never settled; being the pint-sized, the Japanese made Sindhu to move all over the court with accurate returns. The Indian tried to hard to get back with her trademark jump smashes, but with her poor baseline judgements Sindhu landed in trouble, which allowed Okuhara to extend her lead with 17-13.

Sindhu was able to score two more points before Okuhara seized the first game with 21-15.

Second game gave the good start for Sindhu with a slender 6-2 lead before Okuhara broke with a four-point burst. Since then, both the shuttlers fought harder for each point. Sindhu led the game with 11-9 by the half-time.

Okuhara with her deception skills, confused Sindhu to make her commit few unforced errors. Within no time, Okuhara cruised to a 17-14 lead and was caught by her opponent at 18-18.

The Japanese shuttler won three crucial points straight to clinch the Thailand Open 2018 title.

The victory is definitely a celebration for Okuhara who came back from her injury break and ousted the American Beiwen Zhang in the semi-finals, World no. 2 and top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals.

On the other hand, Sindhu fought harder to outlast the Indonesian teenager Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, in the three games match of the semi-finals.

While, another Japanese shuttler, World no. 33 Kanta Tsuneyama outplayed the senior Tommy Sugiarto in the three games encounter with 21-16, 13-21, 21-9 in 58 minutes.

The title is the first in the World Tour calendar for the 22-year old, who won the Canada Open last year.

Final Results:

Women’s Singles            : Nozomi Okuhara bt PV Sindhu with 21-15, 21-18

Men’s Singles       : Kanta Tsuneyama bt Tommy Sugiarto with 21-6, 13-21, 21-9

Men’s Doubles     : Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda bt Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe with 21-17, 21-19

Women’s Doubles         : Greysia Polli/Apriyani Rahayu bt Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi with 21-13, 21-10

Mixed-Doubles   : Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widajaja bt Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock with 21-12, 21-12