PTI
Rio de Janeiro, August 18: PV Sindhu scripted history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the finals of the women’s singles competition at the Rio Olympics as she stunned Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in straight games to assure India of at least a silver medal here Thursday.
The two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships notched up a sensational 21-19, 21-10 victory over the All England Champion in a pulsating semifinal that lasted 49 minutes.
The World No. 10 from Hyderabad will next take on two-time World Champion and top seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the summit clash. Marin overcame an injured Li Xueuri of China 21-14, 21-16.
The immensely talented Hyderabadi girl has done a notch better than her illustrious senior Saina Nehwal, who got India their first medal from badminton – a bronze in London 2012.
Going into the match Sindhu had a 1-3 head-to-head record against Okuhara but all that went for a toss as the Indian came out with a well-thought strategy as she engaged the Japanese in long rallies with her angled returns and deft drops.
In the opening game which lasted 29 minutes, Sindhu opened up a 4-1 lead early on and rode on Okuhara’s unforced errors to extend the advantage to 8-4. She built the lead to 11-6 at the first break.
The Hyderabadi pushed the Japanese to the corners by playing half smashes and drops, while Okuhara continued to find the net while trying to play the cross court drops from the baseline.
A superb cross-court smash and an equally brilliant drop saw Sindhu reach her first point. Okuhara then netted after a long rally to give Sindhu a one-game lead.
In the second game, Sindhu once again opened up a 3-0 lead but the Japanese soon clawed back and grabbed a slender 5-3 lead with the Indian finding it difficult to keep the shuttle inside the court.
The duo moved neck-and-neck from 5-5 to 8-8. A forecourt deception gave a point to Sindhu but she hit wide again. But then she retrieved to shots very well to lead 11-10 at the break.
With the Indian supporters in the stand constantly cheering her, Sindhu came out all cylinders blazing after the change of sides and reeled off 11 straight points with the help of her array of strokes, which included some brilliant backhand flicks and drops, to completely demolish the third seeded Japanese.
