India’s Olympic silver medallist shuttler, P V Sindhu, defeated Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a thrilling summit clash to clinch the women’s singles title at the Korea Open Super Series here.
The 22-year-old overcame eighth seeded Okuhara 22-20, 11-21 and 20-18, in another energy-sapping contest that lasted an hour and 23 minutes to win the $600,000 tournament.
Sindhu had lost to Okuhara in the World Championship final in Glasgow last month, in an epic battle which was described by experts as the best in many years. On Sunday, she turned the tables on the Japanese to become the first Indian to win this Korea Super Series.
Expectations of another edge-of-the-seat thriller were raised after Sindhu and Okuhara set up a summit clash for the second time in a little over three weeks after the final, Sindhu was both exhausted and elated.
It did not go the distance of the marathon World Championship final that had lasted an hour and 50 minutes. But, Sunday’s clash had all the ingredients of another thrilling contest, as the duo battled in long and intense rallies at the SK Handball Stadium.
Sindhu displayed dogged determination to lay claim to the third Super Series title of her career.
World No. 4 Sindhu, who had clinched the 2016 China Super Series Premier and India Super Series, and the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold this season, thus dashed Okuhara’s bid to win her third straight title after winning the Australian Open and the World Championship.
The win also helped Sindhu to level her head-to-head record against Okuhara, making it 4-4 in eight meetings.