India's PV Sindhu lost in straight games to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open on Saturday.
World No. 3 Okuhara started on a dominant note, going up 9-1 in little time. Some errors from Sindhu -- a couple of her smashes went wide -- and Okuhara's deft mixing of defence and attack saw the Indian fall behind.
Okuhara went into the first break with an eight-point advantage.
With a lacklustre Sindhu failing to find any rhythm after the break and Okuhara continuing to dictate the pace, the first game was over -- in the Japanese player's favour -- in just 15 minutes.
Okuhara hit a couple of shots long and also sent a smash wide to give Sindhu some hope at 4-4 in the second game. But soon it was back to the pattern of the first game. Sindhu failed to put Okuhara under pressure with any consistency and the Japanese player regained control, leading 11-5 at the break.
There was no comeback from there and Okuhara won the semi-final 21-7, 21-11 in 37 minutes.
She will meet world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the final.
In the quarterfinals, Sindhu defeated world No. 18 Cai Yanyan and Okuhara beat India's Saina Nehwal.