Reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara withdrew from the women’s singles event of the World Superseries Finals to be held Dec. 13-17 in Dubai, national head coach Park Joo-bong revealed Saturday.
Okuhara, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, injured her right knee during September’s Japan Open Superseries tournament. She pulled out of the national championships on Wednesday citing the injury.
“It will be an inconvenience if she pulls out after entering the competition,” said Park.
Okuhara is surely one of the bright prospects & was surely a tough competitor for Sindhu in the race for title.
She was successful in her road to become the World Champion in 2017 in Glasgow after she defeated India’s PV Sindhu 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 in a hard-fought battle in the final.
Okuhara had injured her right knee during the Japan Open Super Series tournament in September.
A build-up of fluid in her knee had apparently made the joint swollen and stiff, because of which she had to withdraw from the tournament right before her match against Carolina Marin.
The Dubai World Series Finals, which has a prize money of $1,000,000 will see the most talented players in the game take part in the tournament and give their best to become champions.
The World Superseries Finals feature the top eight players or pairs in each discipline.
India’s PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will also be participating in the tournament, along with players like Son Wan Ho of South Korea, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Carolina Marin of Spain.
