Korea Open | PV Sindhu beats Nozomi Okuhara to win her second Superseries in 2017

Sindhu started the match on the offensive, playing a drop shot that Okuhara failed to lift. Sindhu tried to keep her angles correct and with brilliant use of her long reach, she raced to a 5-3 lead in the first game. However, Okuhara scripted a lovely comeback to level at 7-7 as her long shots forced Sindhu to hit wide of the court. Sindhu then fell behind as the Japanese led 11-9 at the mid-game interval. But post the changeover, Sindhu came up with a different strategy, playing crosscourt smashes and hitting long shots that helped her level the score at 12-12. The duo continued exchanging points until the score reached 17-17. After that the Indian’s two back-to-back unforced errors handed the Japanese a lead and another wide shot later, Okuhara got two game point opportunities at 20-18. However, Sindhu was in no mood to let the game slip from her fingers as she tied the game again at 20-20 before winning the game 22-20.

Okuhara, who hadn't dropped a single game in the tournament until the first game of the final, marched ahead with an early 7-3 lead in the second game by focusing more at the net. But the Japanese’s unforced errors kept Sindhu going, who also made a considerable number of unforced errors in the game as Okuhara took a five-point lead at 11-6 at the changeover. Trailing 7-14 at the mid-game interval, Sindhu started attacking her opponent's weak backhand and the strategy worked initially, but Okuhara raised her net play to win two points to take the match to the decider.