Oh no, not Nozomi – blow for hosts as Okuhara forced to pull out

Japan's Nozomi Okuhara serves against China's Chen Yufei during their women痴 singles quarter-final match at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on July 1, 2022. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

PETALING JAYA: First, it was P.V. Sindhu. And now, it’s Nozomi Okuhara.

The Japanese national team suffered a blow after Okuhara was forced to pull out from the women’s singles event in the home World Championships in Tokyo at the eleventh hour due to injury.

The absences of India’s Sindhu and Okuhara surely take some of the glitter away from the world meet as both had been involved in an intense rivalry.

Who can forget their 2017 world championships’ 110-minute final battle, where Okuhara won. Then there was the epic match at the 2019 world meet in Basel where Sindhu got her sweet revenge in the final.

Yesterday, 2017 champion and 2019 runner-up Okuhara confirmed the news via social media and has become the second high-profile name to withdraw from the prestigious meet after Sindhu, who also chose to skip due to injury.

“I have decided to withdraw. It’s very disappointing news for those who had been looking forward to it. I will do my best to recover now,” said world No. 6 Okuhara.

This is a further blow to the 27-year-old who has been struggling to rediscover her best form this year after failing to go past the quarter-final stage in Open tournaments.

Her withdrawal will also be disappointing for the Japanese team, who will now be relying on defending champion and top seed Akane Yamaguchi to hold on to her crown.