Sindhu produces stellar performance

Birmingham: Olympic silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu produced a top-notched performance to eke out a thrilling three-game victory over 2016 champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to progress to her maiden semifinal at the $ 1000,000 All England Championship here today. The quarterfinal clash lived up to its billing as Sindhu and Okuhara strained every sinew to dish out yet another nail-biting contest at the Arena Birmingham. 

It boiled down to finding the right balance of aggression and patience and Sindhu ensured that she had the last laugh as she outwitted Okuhara 20-22 21-18 21-18 in a battle that lasted an hour and 24 minutes here. With this victory, Sindhu registered her fifth win over the Nagano-born World No. 6 Japanese, who robbed her of a World Championship gold at Glasgow after a 110 minute marathon battle which went down in history as one of the greatest. Seventh seeded Okuhara used long tosses and clears and cross court drops to make Sindhu run around the court.  

Sindhu was equally up to the task and the result was that the duo split the initial eight points. Sindhu gained a 6-4 lead briefly after an unsuccessful referral by Okuhara. However, a bad judgement at the baseline by Sindhu saw the score levelled. The Indian again grabbed the slender two point lead when her opponent hit wide twice. But a couple of body smashes helped Okuhara to claw back at 8-8. 

After a few more nail-biting rallies, Sindhu sent one to the net to give a slender 11-10 lead to Okuhara at the first break. Okuhara showed immaculate defence to maintain her one point advantage at 12-11 when she pushed one at the back after Sindhu responded with a barrage of smashes. A towering smash and soft drop near the court gave Sindhu the lead, which swelled after Okuhara served at the net and sent one wide. 

However, it was even stevens once again when a stretched Sindhu sent one to net and Okuhara then unleashed a smash on the Indians forehand. The duo moved neck and neck from 16-16 to 19-19. Okuhara then sent one over the back line to hand over a game point to Sindhu, whose return got buried at the net after breaking the strings of her racquet as it was 20-20.