Published 19:58 IST, August 25th 2019
PV Sindhu poses with Nozomi Okuhara as she claims maiden BWF WC title
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.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
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. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his pride in her achievement. He said that PV Sindhu made India proud by creating history. He said that her success will inspire generations of players.
PV Sindhu beats long time rival Nozomi Okuhara
Badminton ace PV Sindhu beat long-time rival Japan's Nozomi Okuhara to clinch her maiden World Championship title. The Indian targeted the deep corners and unleashed her big smashes to gather points at will. A precise net shot helped Okuhara to snap Sindhu's run of straight-eight points but the Indian quickly got the control back when Okuhara went wide and then unleashed two good-looking smashes to enter the break with a massive 11-2 lead. Okuhara tried to step up the pace but an alert Sindhu was up to the task. The Indian targeted Okuhara's forehand corner to take two more points. As the match concluded, PV Sindhu posed with Nozomi Okuhara and the picture went viral on social media.
Sindhu used her height to produce those attacking clears which Okuhara could not negotiate. At 16-2, Sindhu committed a couple of unforced errors before again taking control of the match. Sindhu eventually grabbed as many as 13 game points when Okuhara went long and she sealed the first game with a body blow which her rival sent out. In the second game, Sindhu continued her rampaging form, grabbing two quick points before Okuhara earned a point with a cross-court smash. Okuhara had no answer to Sindhu's razor-sharp returns. The Indian made the Japanese run to the deep corners with her acute angled returns and then swiftly followed them at the net to make life difficult for her opponent.
PV Sindhu leaves Okuhara clueless
Okuhara seemed clueless as she ended up hitting the nets or missing the lines to allow Sindhu to grab the 11-4 lead at the interval. Nothing changed after the breather as a relentless Sindhu kept her stranglehold on the Japanese, who crumbled under pressure. At 16-4, Sindhu made a couple of rare errors when she hit long but that did not matter as she pounced on a weak return from Okuhara and sent it to the backline and then left her rival stranded with another powerful smash. Sindhu grabbed the match point when Okuhara went long again and sealed the title when another superb return before throwing her hands in the air in celebration. With Sindhu's gold and Praneeth's bronze in this edition, Indian shuttlers also continued the six-year streak of winning at least one medal in the prestigious event.
Updated 20:10 IST, August 25th 2019