Turning tables, soaring India with pride; PV Sindhu seals gold at BWF World Tour Finals

New Delhi, December 17: With sheer determination and the zeal to conquer the golden medal, Badminton ace PV Sindhu has achieved all that she can to end this year on a higher note making India soar with pride. All hails to the champion, PV Sindhu was unstoppable in the Badminton World Tour Finals as she grabbed the gold medal winning the BWF title.

With a 21-19, 21-17 win over Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, Sindhu also became the first Indian shuttler to win gold at the year-ending tournament which pits the top-8 ranked players in the world. PV Sindhu unabashedly ended the streak and the colour of the medal around her neck turned to yellow.

 

In the week where Sindhu beat World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying to end her six match losing streak against the Chinese Taipei shuttler, the win in the final, over Okuhara who had denied her World Championship title in agonising fashion, was icing on the cake by finishing the tournament unbeaten.

Okuhara started slowly in the opening game while Sindhu roared to domination and led 14-6 for a comfortable lead. Sindhu used her height to good effect with lovely drop shots and angled shots to Okuhara’s small frame. But, Okuhara clawed back to win all points that went the distance to make it an even game at 16-16 – winning 10 of the 12 points. With nerves the decisive factor at this stage, it was Okuhara that blinked and made two uncharacteristic errors to give Sindhu a 19-17 advantage. Soon enough, Sindhu had three game point opportunities and she squandered two – one by seeing Okuhara’s shot possibly land wide but without a challenge remaining in her bag. A drop shot on the third game point and Sindhu was one away from the gold medal.

PV Sindhu was the one who had the slender lead for the most part but Okuhara never gave way and allowed it to become a larger deficit until 17-16. A service error and an impatient smash wide of the line meant Sindhu was two points from glory. Okuhara took one point more but Sindhu held on to win the match and ensure she stood on the top of the podium this time and not on the second step.