PV Sindhu createshistory, becomes first Indian to win Gold in BWF World Championships

Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu clinched her maiden BWF World Championships title after brushing aside Japanese star and world number three Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the summit showdown of the tournament in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday. 

The 24-year-old was at her absolute best and didn’t give any chance to her Japanese opponent throughtout the match to eventually seal a comfortable 21-7, 21-7 win in a much-antipated final clash of the women’s singles event that lasted just 38 minutes.   

During the clash, Sindhu used her height to make full use of the court and play plenty of attacking shots against Okuhara, who made many unforced errors and looked quite weak against the Indian shuttler. 

With the win, Sindhu also scripted history by becoming the first Indian ever to grab a gold medal at the BWF World Championships.

It was also Sindhu’s fifth title at the tournament, thus making her the joint highest in women’s singles in the history of the BWF World Championships along with two-time Olympic gold medallist Xhang Ning of China. Sindhu won a bronze each in the 2013 and 2014 editions of the tournament before clinching two back-to-back silvers in previous two editions. 

Thw victory also saw Sindhu extend her lead over Okuhara to 9-7 in head-to-head series. 

Sindhu’s gold is the second medal that India has won at the 2019 edition of the tournament after B Sai Praneeth settled for a bronze medal in the men’s singles event of the tournament on Saturday.  

(With agency inputs)