Even a 9-0 lead in the second was insufficient to force a decision. In Sindhu of 2023, there was little resemblance to either the 2017 or 2019 finals against Okuhara.
Memories of former glory cast a long, crippling shadow on PV Sindhu’s current game, which desperately needs rejigging upgrades and a true reset but is instead spiraling downward.
Since her bronze medal in 2013, she’s spent ten long, exhausting years battling at the World Championships, taking out the big names in massive kills. Add to that two Olympic gold medals. But someone would have to shake the 28-year-old awake and impress upon her that she is designed to go up to 32-33 and is capable of numerous World titles, not just the one in Basel. Fading out slowly, quietly following Nozomi Okuhara’s example in rally tempo and cadence, offering little initiative of her own, just responding, is not how the fabled Sindhu vs Okuhara rivalry should conclude.The inspiration
to reboot and rediscover was standing right across the net, rather scrambling like crazy from one corner to another, getting every shuttle back to string together points.
Nobody knows if Sindhu’s desire for a titanic fight was totally satisfied by the 2019 gold. But there was no sting or precision in her assault, nor the tenacity in playing that one extra accurate shot in defense that could have lifted her out of Tuesday’s 21-14, 21-14 rut against Okuhara. Sindhu appeared to be the furthest she has ever been from the 21-7, 21-7 scoreline and mentality of her gold-winning final in Basel, leaving tamely from her opening encounter in Copenhagen.
As encouraging as it may be for her mood, reflecting on the seventh anniversary of her Olympic silver medal from 2016 on the eve of a difficult World Championsh
ip campaign in 2023 pointed to a mind and body trapped in the past.
Both Okuhara and the Indian were coming into the Round of 32 of the World Championships in Copenhagen after a disastrous year of form. Only the Japanese appeared willing to put her 2017 World title behind her, turn the page, and physically put her head down and lunge and retrieve furiously to replay that winninger pugnacious game, to start all over again in quest of a new objective.
The Nagano native was World No. 1 in 2019 but has subsequently been sidelined and hindered by injury for entire seasons. Okuhara, on her first visit to the court this season, came prepared to put in the work. The 5’2 player, like Yamaguchi, manages startling court coverage and plays the high shuttle game of springing and arching back to strike the birds deep behind her head, point after painful point. I’m still 28. Sindhu wasn’t hitting with much force, but in that Plan A / no other plan monotone, Sindhu was making Okuhara chase the shuttle to diagonal corners and on either flanks at the net.That the Japanese was prepared to put in this hard work frustrated Sindhu no end, and she invariably conceded errors.
Okuhara started the same way she always did, chatting to herself before entering the court, a modest bow of respect, and then the full stretch lunge to warm up for what was to come. Sindhu began the match with a cross-drop winner, but her successive angled strokes lacked finesse and were dumped into the net. Okuhara had a couple outright kill shots, but she could make do since Sindhu was not striking with much strength or precision from across the net. Sindhu was completely neutralized by Okuhara’s high serves and high tosses, and their persistence, along with the Japanese shuttler’s ability to bend low in stretch defense, saw her dominate the long rallies as early as 4-3 in the opener.
Sindhu notably used her height to strike the shuttle high and shape her jump smashes into precise kills in the Rio Games semifinals. Okuhara, on the other hand, has since moved on to hitting those high tosses and acrobatic lifts, giving it back to Sindhu and tiring out her lengthy limbs on the aerials. Because the Indian couldn’t find spaces within the bounds of the court on Tuesday, with Okuhara defending magnificently, she was forced to go for the lines, where her radar was severely out of commission. Sindhu’s low pickups would hit the net, and her pushes would veer long and wide as she struggled to find any length from midcourt.All Okuhara had to do was extend the rally, get her own cross drops on the lines, and a Sindhu error would ultimately fetch up from a defeated frantic swing of the racquet as she won the first game 21-14.
Sindhu’s only foray was a serve variation at the opening of the second set, which shook Okuhara slightly as she fell down 0-9. But the Japanese quickly figured out the Indian’s tactic, and once she figured it out, she was able to regain momentum and go into the break only two points behind at 9-11. Slow courts necessitated that Sindhu power through like she once did and retain the rigour in defense, both of which she failed to do. When the match began to slide away from her, her go-to was pumping half-hearted pace into the shots, but she would give up on that as well, as Okuhara remained steadfast.
Whatever confidence the 9-0 lead might have instilled vanished in an instant, and before a decider even loomed on the horizon, it turned into a mirage as Sindhu reverted to erring in protracted rallies. Sindhu equaled Okuhara in retrieving numerous impossible shuttles, which is why the 2017 final is considered a classic. She didn’t seem interested in fighting it out in the rally like she did in Glasgow, and stabbed at the shuttle hunting for impatient kills, blinking first all too frequently.The last of her ripostes was a flat low crosscourt winner at 11-9, but Okuhara took 6 points from 9-12 down to reach 15-12, and when Sindhu loses the lead these days, she becomes deflated quickly, as she has the past two seasons.
Sindhu added additional shoulder revs at 13-15 and was promptly rewarded with a point, demonstrating how her expected speed had caused her to fall undone. The next point, though, Okuhara was forced to work hard, chasing the shuttle across the court, and when she outran Sindhu, the Indian’s back was shattered. Sindhu would ultimately smash the high serve at 14-16, but every time the Japanese won a rally, Sindhu would slouch her shoulders and make errors. Both sets concluded with Sindhu spraying smashes wide on an open half of the court with Okuhara out of position, attempting to keep the smashes in.
Even a 9-0 lead was insufficient to exploit the advantage and force a deciding. In Sindhu of 2023, there was little resemblance to either the 2017 or 2019 finals against Okuhara. Okuhara, on the other hand, seems to have neatly packed the memories of them both aside and arrived ready to fight a new battle. She would beam at the camera and say, “Thank you for your support!” It left you with the uneasy impression that only half of a spectacular return had been completed.
