Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated badminton player PV Sindhu for securing her maiden BWF World Championship title on Saturday. PV Sindhu on Sunday became the first Indian to win badminton World Championships gold by beating familiar rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a lop-sided final. The Indian won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.  It was Sindhu's fifth World Championships medal -- joint-most for a woman singles player with former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China -- to go with the two successive silvers and a couple of bronze medals. 

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Kiren Rijiju congratulates PV Sindhu

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated badminton ace PV Sindhu for striking gold in the BWF World Championships. Kiren Rijiju assured PV Sindhu of the government's support to the athletes to bring out more champions from the country. He hailed PV Sindhu's victory and said that the entire country was proud of PV Sindhu's maiden title win. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also congratulated Sai Praneeth for wiining a bronze medal, ending India's long wait for an Indian man to win a medal in the World Championships. Here's what Kiren Rijiju had posted for PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth:

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PV Sindhu's march to the final

Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who came into the match with a 5-3 head-to-head record against Chen, grabbed the initiative quickly. The Indian dished out a compact game, producing angled returns to push Chen to the corners. Sindhu retrieved well and punished any weak return from her rival to dominate the rallies. PV Sindhu entered the first break with a 11-3 lead after the Chinese went wide. Chen continued to find the going tough as she missed the lines, allowing the Indian to gather points at will.

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Another weak return at the net by Chen gave Sindhu as many as 14 game points. The Indian then sealed the opening game in her second attempt. Chen made a better start in the second game and was neck-and-neck at 3-3 with Sindhu, but the errors again crept in her game as Sindhu moved to a 10-6 lead. Sindhu exploited a weakness in the backhand side of Chen to lead 11-7 at the breather.  PV Sindhu worked hard during the rallies, not giving an inch to her Chinese rival and was rewarded for her effort. Chen committed too many unforced errors in her desperation as Sindhu jumped to a 17-9 lead in a jiffy. The Indian eventually grabbed eight match points with a cross-court smash. Chen saved a couple before hitting long again as Sindhu celebrated.

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