Super Sindhu seals a medal; Enters final beating Okuhara

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 18 (PTI) P V Sindhu scripted historyby becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the finals ofthe women’s singles competion at the Rio Olympics as shestunned Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in straight games to assureIndia of atleast a silver medal here today. The two-time bronze medallist at World Championshipnotched up a sensational 21-19 21-10 victory over the AllEngland Champion from Japan in a pulsating semi-final thatlasted 49 minutes. The World No. 10 from Hyderabad will next take ontwo-time World Champion and top seed Carolina Marin of Spainin the summit clash tomorrow. The immensely talented Hyderabadi girl has done a notchbetter than her illustrious senior Saina Nehwal, who gotcountry’s its first medal from badminton — a bronze in London2012. Sindhu had a 1-3 head-to-head record against Okuhara butall that went for a toss as the Indian came out with awell-thought strategy as she engaged the Japanese inlong-rallies with her angled returns and deft drops. In the opening game which lasted 29 minutes, Sindhuopened up a 4-1 lead early on and rode on Okuhara’s unforcederrors to extend the advantage to 8-4. The Indian engaged herrival in long rallies and tried to vary the pace and finishthem with well-executed drops. A cross court forehand return after a long rally whichconsisted of 32 strokes helped Sindhu reach 9-6 before theIndian reached the interval with a 11-6 advantage afterOkuhara hit long. The Hyderabadi pushed the Japanese to the corners byplaying half smashes and drops, while Okuhara continued tofind the net while trying to play the cross court drops fromthe baseline. Leading 14-10, Sindhu hit wide and long before coming upwith a superb drop even as Okuhara forehand returns. At 16-18, Sindhu failed to negotiate a body return butshe again caught hold of the shuttle early using her heightand sent it sailing out of the Japanese reach. A missednet shot by Okuhara saw Sindhu reach the game point. What ensued next was a long rally with Okuhara hittingacross as the Indian grabbed the opening game after theJapanese found the net. PTI TAP ATK KHSKHS