India’s campaign came to a disappointing end as the PV Sindhu-led squad lost the women’s team badminton quarter-final 1-3 to hosts Japan at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Hopes were high for Sindhu as she took on three-time world champion and old rival Akane Yamaguchi, who also reached the final of the World Championships last month here. Having beaten the world No. But Yamaguchi found her rhythm in the second as she kept drawing Sindhu to the net before pushing the bird to the back. Unlike what the scores suggest, Tomoka was in complete control of the match as she earned her fifth win in as many meetings against the Indian.
3 twice in four meetings this year—including the Japan Open final where Sindhu beat Yamaguchi in her own backyard—Sindhu looked full of confidence and started well, pulling off the first game, a tight affair, 23-21. The local girl played the endurance game perfectly, extending the rallies which forced Sindhu to commit errors to win the second game 21-18 and push the match into a decider. Japan made it 2-0 when 20-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki breezed past Unnati Hooda 21-16, 21-18. But despite their pedigree, the Japanese combine were no match for Treesa and Gayatri as the world No.26 pair won 21-17, 21-16 in 52 minutes to provide hope to their team. But that hope was short lived as young Tanvi Sharma was no match for former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, who came out on top 21-12, 21-10 in 18 minutes to help Japan win 3-1.
