World champion Nozomi Okuhara breezed past India's world No. 2 Pusarla Sindhu in straight games at the Japan Open badminton tournament on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition.
Eighth-ranked Okuhara, bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, had claimed a hard-fought victory against Sindhu at the worlds in August in a match that lasted 1 hour, 50 minutes. But this time she won 21-18, 21-8 in less than 50 minutes before a home crowd.
"I was nervous before the match, but I thought that the worst thing that could happen is being crushed under the weight of my fans' expectations," Okuhara said. "I went into the match asking myself what I have to do."