SINDHU MAKES HISTORY
1st Indian shuttler to win gold
P.V. Sindhu cheers after winning her women’s singles final match against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at the BWF Badminton World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday. Sindhu became the first Indian to win the championship gold. She won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes. “The stupendously talented @Pvsindhu1 makes India proud again! Congratulations to her for winning the Gold at the BWF World Championships,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Basel (Switzerland), Aug. 25: P.V. Sindhu on Sunday scripted history as she became the first Indian to win badminton World Championships gold by beating arch-rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a lop-sided summit clash here on Sunday.
The Olympic silver-medallist Indian won 21-7, 21-7 in the final that lasted just 38 minutes.
Two years after being robbed off the gold by Okuhara in an epic 110-minute final at Glasgow that was considered as one of the greatest battles in badminton history, Sindhu finally exorcised the ghost of that heart-wrenching loss with a completely dominating win over the same opponent.
“Last time, I lost in the final, before that also I lost in the final, so it is a very important win for me. I want to thank the crowd for supporting me. I won it for my country and I am very proud being an Indian,” Sindhu said after the match. “A big thanks to my coach Kim and Gopi sir and my supporting staff and I dedicate this win to my mom, it’s her birthday today,” she added. It was third time lucky for Sindhu, who had lost to Okuhara and Carolina
Marin of Spain respectively in the 2017 and 2018 finals to settle for a silver twice.
With her fifth medal of the World Championships, the 24-year-old Indian was already one of the greatest ever women’s singles players in the showpiece event’s history. She had won a bronze each in the 2013 and 2014 editions. Sindhu is now the joint highest medal winner in women’s singles in the World Championships history with former Olympic champion Zhang Ning of China who has won an identical one gold, two silver and two bronze between 2001 and 2007. Prakash
Padukone became the first Indian to win a medal in World Championships with a men’s singles bronze in the 1983 edition while Saina Nehwal bagged a silver and a bronze in 2015 and 2017 respectively, in the women’s singles.
Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also took a bronze in the women’s doubles in 2011 while B. Sai Praneeth was the latest to join the club as he settled for a bronze in the men’s singles in this edition on Saturday.
Sindhu, who has also won a silver each in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games, was in a different class on Sunday as she toyed with her Japanese opponent in all departments of the game. The fifth seeded Indian, who enjoyed a 8-7 head-to-head lead over third seeded Okuhara ahead of Sunday’s contest, was simply unstoppable as she dished out an attacking game right from the start to race to 8-1 lead. The Indian targeted the deep corners and unleashed her big smashes to gather points at will. BAI ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of India on Sunday announced a cash reward of `20 lakh and `5 lakh for Sindhu and Sai Praneeth for their historic feats in Basel.
“BAI President @himantabiswa announces cash award of Rs 20 lakh for World Champion @Pvsindhu1 and 5 lakh for @saiprneeth92 for their historic performance at the #bwfworldchampionship2019,” tweeted BAI.