PV Sindhu surrenders to Okuhara in Singapore semifinals
Singapore: P V Sindhu looked awfully out of form as she surrendered without a fight to former world champion Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the women's singles semifinals to draw curtains on India's campaign at the Singapore Open here on Saturday.
Sindhu, a Rio Olympics silver medallist, lost 7-21 11-21 to world no. 3 Okuhara in a lop-sided contest.
Sindhu had won the last two times they played each other and overall enjoyed a slight 7-6 advantage in the head-to-head record with Okuhara.
The duo had played an epic final at 2017 World Championship that had clocked 110 minutes and is considered one of the best women's singles match in the history of badminton.
Since that marathon World Championship final, Sindhu and Okuhara have played each other six times and the Indian won four times.
But Saturday, Sindhu looked completely out of sort as just 15 minutes into the match and she was crestfallen after meekly surrendering the first game following a heap of unforced errors, mainly at the net and sidelines.
While in-form Okuhara showed great control, Sindhu looked low in confidence and lacked the patience to engage her rival in long rallies.
After the change of sides, Sindhu lagged 1-3 but she recovered to made it 4-4. Okuhara then changed the pace of the rallies and gathered six straight points, which included two precise lifts at the backline and also a prompt net return.
The Japanese reached 11-5 at the interval.
With Sindhu continuing to commit simple errors, which included missing the lines and finding the net too often, Okuhara dominated the proceedings, gathering points at will.
Okuhara kept the pressure on Sindhu and eventually a round-the-head cross court return took her to 18-8.
Four wide shots delayed the inevitable before Okuhara grabbed nine match points with another superb cross court smash. Another cross court return and she sealed her place in the final.
Okuhara will face world no 1 Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, who quite incredibly saved five match points to take the match against Akane yamaguchi to the decider and then came up trumps.
She won 15-21 24-22 21-19 in a 57-minute clash with Yamaguchi to enter the finals.
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No shame in saying that India can field multiple T20 teams: Suryakumar
New Delhi (PTI): India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav believes the country’s talent pool in the shortest format has grown so vast that it could comfortably field two or even three international-quality teams at the same time, underlining the depth created by a thriving domestic structure and franchise ecosystem.
The flamboyant batter, who has overseen a period of remarkable consistency since taking over the leadership after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, credited the steady pipeline of players emerging from domestic competitions and the Indian Premier League for strengthening India’s dominance in T20 cricket.
Since Suryakumar took over the captaincy in 2024 -- right after Rohit Sharma stepped down following the World Cup victory in Barbados -- the Indian team has won 42 of the 52 matches played, reflecting team's dominance in a fickle format.
In a podcast interview with PTI Videos on Sunday, Suryakumar called the current group "the best T20 team India has produced", adding that India’s depth in T20 cricket is now too evident to be downplayed.
"If you talk about talent, I feel you can find talent regularly. There is IPL cricket, franchise cricket, then there is domestic cricket. You can see how many players come every year. So you can make as many teams as you want in T20 when I am talking about T20," Suryakumar said.
"So I feel talent is unlimited. If you can make two-three playing XIs, our base is so strong, of the Indian team. So this is not a modest and diplomatic reply. But now it is so strong, so there is no shame in telling the truth," he said.
Team effort behind 80 per cent win rate
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Suryakumar credited the team's success coming into the World Cup to a collective approach in the dressing room, saying a shared vision among players and support staff helped produce an impressive 80 per cent win rate in a notoriously unpredictable format.
Even with that success rate, the World Cup was not going to be a cake-walk because as Suryakumar noted, "we played bilateral matches one way, and in ICC tournament something else happened." For this reason, he needed to motivate the team to maintain the winning streak in the Feb 7 to March 8 tournament.
"I don't pay too much attention to statistics but I hate losing any game. If everyone in the dressing room moves in the same direction, only then can you achieve such a percentage," he said
India's consistency in T20Is over the past 18 months has been widely attributed to a stable leadership group led by Suryakumar and head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Batting a mix of instinct and reaction
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Known for his 360-degree strokeplay, Suryakumar described batting in T20 cricket as largely a reactive sport, with preparation accounting for only part of the process.
"I feel batting is about 70–75 per cent reaction. The remaining 25 per cent is instinct, what you decide to do in the moment. Once you enter the ground, you are almost in autopilot mode. You try to bat with rhythm and according to the situation," he said.
He also traced the origins of his unconventional range of shots to childhood rubber-ball games in Mumbai, where uneven boundary sizes forced him to improvise.
Thin line between courage and recklessness
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While his audacious strokeplay is often described as high risk, Suryakumar said he tries to stay on the right side of the fine line separating courage from recklessness.
"There is a very thin line between being courageous and being reckless. I try to stay on the courageous side. But if the situation demands a high-risk shot, you have to take it. High rewards often require high-risk decisions," he explained.
Clear understanding with Gambhir
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The skipper also highlighted his strong working relationship with coach Gautam Gambhir, revealing that the duo were almost perfectly aligned when they first sat down to select the team after he was handed the reins of the team and Gambhir took over as coach.
"Out of 15 names we both suggested, 14 were common. That means the thinking was the same. When the goals are clear, there are no arguments, only discussions."
Despite their professional success, Suryakumar said their personal dynamic remains unchanged.
"I still call him 'Gauti bhai'. It is like a younger brother and elder brother relationship," he said.
