Sindhu overcomes Tunjung, sets up final clash with Okuhara

Bangkok, July 14 

PV Sindhu advanced to the final after registering a hard-fought victory over Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung at the Thailand Open tournament.

The second seeded Indian continued her unbeaten run in the Thai capital with a 23-21 16-21 21-9 win over Tunjung in a match that lasted an hour.

Sindhu will lock horns with Nozomi Okuhara in a rematch of the last World Championships in which the Japanese prevailed. The world No. 3 Indian pipped Tunjung to win the first game that went down to the wire, separated by just two points.

In the second game, Sindhu took a 9-5 lead but squandered the advantage as Tunjung reeled off four points to lead 11-9 at the break. After trailing 10-16, Sindhu earned three consecutive points but lost the game.

In the third game, Sindhu rushed to a sizeable 5-1 lead. The Indian then ensured that Tunjung was unable to get back into the game, sealing it comfortably with a 21-9 drubbing.

In the quarterfinals, Sindhu had eased past her Malaysian rival Soniia Cheah. Okuhara beat Beiwen Zhang 21-17 21-10 in the other semifinal. — PTI