BWF World Tour Finals 2021: PV Sindhu settles for silver after losing to An Seyoung

An Seyoung has scripted history at the latest edition of the BWF World Tour Finals by beating India's double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu in the summit clash on Sunday. Seyoung registered the historic feat by winning her third consecutive title in three weeks. Seyoung beat the reigning champion in two straight sets to become the latest BWF World Tour Finals title holder in the women's singles category.

In terms of the play, Seyoung looked extremely menacing in the final on Sunday, right from the start of the first game, when she gained an early lead to put Sindhu under pressure. The 19-year-old won the first set 21-16 in a dominating fashion in the match, which was held at the Bali International Convention Center in Indonesia.

Sindhu made a comeback in the second set, taking a 2-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game. Sindhu, on the other hand, couldn't hold on to her lead for long, as Seyoung scored four points in a row to get ahead of the Indian shuttler in the points tally. The back-and-forth between Sindhu and Seyoung continued until the Korean won the second set 21-12 to win her third consecutive final at the same location.

Sindhu had reached the final on Saturday after beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi while Seyoung had entered the summit clash after beating Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand on the same day. Sindhu had come into the game with an overall head-to-head record of 0-2 in favour of Seyoung. The last time Sindhu lost against the Korean teenager was in October this year in the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open, where the latter emerged victorious by beating the World No. 7 in two back-to-back sets 21-11, 21-12. 

As far as PV Sindhu is concerned, the 26-year-old Olympic medalist had come into the tournament as one of the favourites to win courtesy of her impressive performances in the BWF World Tour series this year and her heroics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she won a bronze medal to become the first-ever Indian athlete to win two back-to-back Olympic medals in an individual sport. The Indian shuttler had featured in four semifinals, two quarterfinals, and one final across competitions this year before coming to play the BWF World Tour Finals in Indonesia. 

Image: PTI