Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu’s 2018 title drought continued as she lost to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the Thailand Open final on Sunday. Second seed Sindhu lost the tie against the fourth-seeded Japanese 21-15 21-18 in 50 minutes. It was the Indians third loss in a final this year after India Open and the Commonwealth Games.
Sindhu, who had an ankle strain ahead of the CWG and missed the Uber Cup final, had reached the semi-final and the quarterfinal respectively in her last two tournaments — in Malaysia and Indonesia — before this one.
Okuhara took control of the tie early, taking a 6-2 lead in the opening game. Sindhu managed to reduce the margin to 15-17 using her aggressive cross-court smashes. But Okuhara’s aggressive net play forced Sindhu to commit unforced errors and the Japanese win four straight points to wrap up the first game.
Sindhu took a 5-1 lead early in the second game, but unforced errors cost her once again, allowing the Japanese to take five straight points to take the lead.
Okuhara now holds a 6-5 head-to-head win-loss record over Sindhu.
