Beijing, August 4: Top Indian shuttler and Rio Olympics silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu on Friday produced a top-notched performance to spin out Nozomi Okuhara of Japan and progressed to the semi-finals of World Badminton Championships which is being held in Nanjing city of China.
Notably, PV Sindhu defeated Nozomi Okuhara in straight games by 21-17, 21-19 in a match that lasted for just 58 minutes. After comfortably winning the first set, Sindhu was made tough to fight for the second round as Okuhara raced off to a 5-0 lead. However, Sindhu staged a fight back and came from behind to clinch the set and match too.
After racing in semifinals, PV Sindhu said, "I am happy with my performance but it is not over yet. Tomorrow it is the semifinal and I have to play another Japanese girl. I have to be very much prepared and rest now. I have to come back strong against Yamaguchi," adding that she was very patient throughout. "I knew that it is going be very long and I have to be very patient. When I was down at 8-11 in the second game, I backed myself and came back strong," Sindhu added.
However, Sindhu is the only Indian left in the tournament. Saina Nehwal and the Mixed Doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy bowed out in the quarterfinals. Sindhu will lay another Japanese, world number two Akane Yamaguchi, for a place in the Final.
The Indian ace shuttler currently leads the head-to-head record against Yamaguchi, 6-4. If Sindhu goes through final then she will face the winner of the clash between Carolina Marin and He Bingjiao. Importantly, PV Sindhu was defeated by Nozomi Okuhara in an epic marathon final at the last year's World Championships in Glasgow.