It took exactly three weeks for PV Sindhu to avenge herself against Nozomi Okuhara. Memories of a numbing loss -- "upsetting," she had called it -- to her Japanese rival in that epic of a final at the Glasgow World Championships in August might still have rankled her. But those memories will not have a chance to fester further. On Sunday, in the final of the Korean Open Superseries, Sindhu would have excised some of that hurt against Okuhara with a three-game result -- 22-20, 16-21, 21-18 -- in her favour.
"Winning the match doesn't change anything," Pullela Gopichand watching from Hyderabad tells ESPN. "But losing the match to Okuhara would be far harder. Having gone this far in two tournaments and losing two matches that are this close back to back are particularly difficult. It would have dented her confidence badly."
This final couldn't hope to match the quality of their previous encounter but it's unlikely Sindhu will have too many concerns. She became the first Indian to claim the title in Seoul but more satisfyingly she has brought back the rivalry with Okuhara (4-4) to an even keel.
Mental fortitude
It isn't possible to claim Sindhu was anywhere near her best all week in Seoul. She looked just a bit jaded following her draining final in Glasgow. Her route to this final was a hard-fought one, as she was taken to three games by lower-ranked opponents in the quarters and semi-finals. While her strokes might have been rusty, few can deny the sheer will to win possessed by the Indian. In contrast to the final in Glasgow, it was Sindhu who was the slow starter today. Okuhara held leads of 12-9 in the first game and even two game points at 20-18, yet each time Sindhu would claw her way back. By the end of the third game, when Okuhara's superior conditioning can be devastating, Sindhu still continued to will her weary legs just long enough to get over the line.
Pacing herself
In the Glasgow final, it was Sindhu who claimed the battles yet it was Okuhara who won the war. The 73-shot rally that equalized the match to one-game apiece might have half-a-million views on the BWF YouTube channel, but it took far more out of the Indian than the untiring Okuhara. In the final game there, it was Okuhara who was able to dictate the pace. In Seoul, it was Okuhara who had won the longest rally (42 shots) of the first couple of games. Indeed, Sindhu lost the second game rather convincingly, dropping nine of the final 12 points. As the game grew steadily unwinnable, Sindhu seemed to sink further. At that time she seemed low on energy and options. Yet that lopsided second game probably ensured the Indian had conserved just enough energy to hold Okuhara at bay in the decider. There were two occasions (15-13 and 18-16) where Okuhara could have closed the gap to a single point. Both points were determined by gruelling rallies in which 28 and 56 shots were traded. On both occasions, when it mattered most, it was Sindhu who was able to hold on long enough.
No Gopichand, no Mulyo, no problem
In international badminton matches, the two seats just behind the Indian side of the court have usually been occupied by a couple of familiar faces. Pullela Gopichand was once the regular attendant for Sindhu's matches. More recently, Indonesian Mulyo Handoyo has been present even as Indian players have consistently claimed titles at the Superseries level. Their midgame tactics have come to be seen as vital for success. Both of them were in Sindhu's corner against Okuhara three weeks back. Gopichand, that master of grit, simply told her to push through. Yet that combined expertise was not enough then. Sheer grit was not good enough to claim the win. Neither was present for Sindhu today though. While Siddharth and Ambarish are respected senior coaches at the Gopichand Academy, for the most part was left to Sindhu to work out how she had to play and chart her own path towards success.
Defensive evolution
Sindhu's ability as a power hitter is well known on the international circuit. But she is not seen as the most stylistically gifted player and there remain vulnerabilities on the defence that have been picked at by opponents over the years. Sindhu, however, has been displaying increasing facets to her game. In Korea, she appears to have grown defensively as a player. Against Okuhara, her defensive backhand crosscourt shots were especially effective, buying her space to recover with. Additionally, Sindhu was increasingly confident at the net. When Okuhara tried to duel there, she had increasingly difficult margins to work with and two occasions saw the shuttle tip on the net cord and bounce back on her side of the court.