It has not been long since PV Sindhu was engaged in a marathon title match at the BWF World Championships against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. The Indian shuttler finished second best (19-21, 22-20, 20-22) in what was tightly-fought encounter that lasted a record 110 minutes last month.
Sindhu, on Friday, September 15, was once again facing a Japanese opponent, this time in the quarter-final of the ongoing Korea Superseries in Seoul. The unseeded Minatsu Mitani though was not as gritty as her compatriot Okuhara, who mentally and physically drained Sindhu only weeks ago in Glasgow.
The enormous workload did have an effect on Sindhu as she was struggling for a brief period during the match with fatigue. However, she managed to hold on and win the quarter-final 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 that wore on for 63 minutes.
The fifth seed raced to a four-point lead (7-3) in the opening game, but Mitani caught up and in fact went into the mid-game break with a two-point lead. The world number 19 stepped up and came up with a brilliant show of deception, making her tall opponent twist and turn on the court.
Mitani showed no signs of fatigue despite featuring in a 50-minute last 16 encounter against world number one Tai Tzu Ying on Thursday, September 14. Notably, she caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when she won the match 23-21 14-21 21-18.
Sindhu though did not let the Japanese shuttler run away with a big lead at any point of time during the first game. Towards the end, Sindhu remained calm and won two crucial points to take the game 21-19.
Mitanu might not have won the first game, but the way she made Sindhu run across the court seemed to have worked in her favour in the second game as the Rio Olympic Silver medallist was clearly struggling to even meet the shuttle. The Indian shuttler eventually lost the game without being able to put up a fight.
Remarkable comeback!
Sindhu, much to the surprise of the on-air commentators and the handful of fans at the SK Handball Stadium, put on a gritty show of badminton to stun Mitanu in the decider. The Indian shuttler started controlling the rallies and quickly raced to an eight-point lead at the mid-game break of the decider.
Mitanu tried to make yet another comeback, but the eight-point lead she conceded early in the game proved too much.
"Sindhu never ceases to amaze me, finds the energy, finds the will power from somewhere," TV commentator Gillian Clarke said.
Not many could have put it better!
