(Birmingham): PV Sindhu storms in the semi finals of All England Championships 2018 by defeating her nemesis Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a game which went to gruelling third set. The 4th seeded Indian made a strong fightback after loosing the first game and won the match 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 in 84 minutes.
Before the match Nozomi Okuhara was leading 5-4 in head-to-head battles but victory for Sindhu meant that the figures gets evenly poised at 5-5.
In the first game it was a neck to neck battle between two fierce rivals as the scores were tied at 4 a piece. Okuhara went into the break with marginal lead of 1 point. At one time the scores were tied at 19-19, but then the Japanese made an unforced error to hand over game points opportunities to Sindhu. However Okuhara was not in a mood to give up so easily as she held her nerves and clinched three straight points to take the game 22-20.
The second game again saw some see-saw battles but it was Sindhu who took two points lead going into the mid break. Okuhara made her way back and levelled it on 11-11 soon thereafter. The see-saw battle again continued and the scores were tied at 18-18. Sindhu brought her “A” game to the course and clinched three straight points to take the game 21-18 and force a decider.
In the third and final game Okuhara eked ahead 4-1 at the start, but then Sindhu clawed her back by levelling it on 6-6. Both the players were making too many unforced errors, but it was the Japanese shuttler who took one point advantage going into the break. The two minute break prooved vital for Okuhara as she cruised ahead 16-12 against the Indian. Just when the things started to look in favour of the 7th seeded Japanese player, Sindhu made a strong comeback and clinched four straight points to bring it down to 16-16. Both the players showcased Stunning attack and defense but it was Sindhu who surge ahead 19-18. She didn’t look back from there and took two straight points to register a win and a place in semi final of All England Championships 2018.
Sindhu will be up against the second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semi-finals, who earlier beat Olympic champion Carolina Marin 21-15, 21-18 in a match which spanned for 53 minutes.
