Badminton News: India’s former World Champion PV Sindhu’s bad luck lasted when he was knocked out of the World Championships in Copenhagen on Tuesday (8/22) night.

As the most decorated Indian player in the history of the World Championship, with five medals collected, PV Sindhu showed less strength than usual in her attacking game and was beaten by Nozomi Okuhara with a score of 14- 21, 14-21.

His opponent, Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, a former gold medalist in 2017 and silver medalist in 2019, has become a familiar enemy.

This is the first time that 16th seed Sindhu has failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of this prestigious tournament.

PV Sindhu and Okuhara, best known for their 110-minute final at the 2017 World Championships in Glasgow, always produced a thrilling match, but the second-round clash at the Royal Arena proved to be a one-sided affair.

The duo have been plagued by injuries for the past 12 months and missed the last edition. Sindhu entered the match with a 10-8 lead but her game lacked attack.

Head to head after three years in slow motion, both players hit high throws and clean sweeps, looking to make mistakes against each other, but it was former world number one Okuhara who excelled in precision.

After a 6-6 opener, Okuhara managed to get all three points and entered the break two points clear.

Japan made it 16-12 after taking advantage of a weak net return. The Indian continued wide and long as Okuhara made it 19-12 with crisp cross returns.

Another wide shot from Sindhu gave Okuhara seven game points, who converted after the Indian went wide again.

The change saw a change in momentum with Sindhu leading 9-0 following a series of unforced errors from Okuhara.

Okuhara, however, slowly started dominating the rally and racked up a five-point streak with some good fieldwork before making it 9-10.

A cross shot helped Sindhu take a two-point halftime lead.

Okuhara started to catch his rival on the front court and took six points from 10-12 to turn things around against the Indian.

At 13-16, PV Sindhu threw his signature cross smash to the point where he burst into tears, but he couldn’t control his mistakes and eventually allowed six match points to Okuhara, who sealed the match after the Indian hit another long streak. .

Article Tags: PV Sindhu, nozomi okuhara, BWF World Championships 2023