Just weeks after that marathon final at the World Championships in Glasgow, PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara will fight it out for a title again after the duo reached the final of the Korea Open Superseries in Seoul with contrasting semi-final wins on Saturday.
Sindhu defeated world No. 7 from China, He Bingjiao, 21-10 17-21 21-16 in 66 minutes to book her place in the title clash after Okuhara had earlier defeated her compatriot and second seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-18 in just 38 minutes.
Sindhu started off in dominating fashion in the first game, racing to a 21-10 scoreline in just 16 minutes. It looked like it will be more of the same in the second as well when she opened up a 9-3 lead before taking a five-point lead into the mid-game interval. But the left-handed Bingjiao, who started playing with much more freedom towards the end of the first game, posted a brilliant comeback to take the game into the decider. A series of errors from Sindhu and some clever net play by the Chinese meant for the second round running the India was stretched all the way.
The third game was a much tighter affair with neither player letting the other get away. Sindhu took a slender two-point lead into the final change of ends and, she gave one final push to lead 19-15 and then close out the final game 21-16.
The fifth seeded Sindhu will now take on seventh seed Okuhara in an attempt to lift her third Superseries title.
