PV Sindhu: Wins China Open Super Series Title

FUZHOU – Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the finals of the USD 700,000 China Open badminton tournament here today.

Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11 17-21 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.

World No. 11 Sindhu had come into the match with a 2-3 head-to-head record but then statistics counted little when she took the court at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

Sindhu dished out a dominating game as she zoomed to a healthy 11-5 lead early on.

Eventually it was a cross court return which earned Sindhu a massive 12 game points at 20-8. A couple of smashes on Sindhu’s forehand and backhand and a drop going to the net helped Sun save three points. But Sindhu sealed the opening encounter after dominating a parallel game and finishing it with a return that hit Sun’s face.

In the second game, Sindhu had a slender 6-3 lead which she extended to 11-7 and 14-10. But Sun soon broke the rhythm by mixing her strokes and coming up with steep and powerful body smashes to catch up with the Indian at 14-14.

A sharp smash and a superb return on Sindhu’s backhand helped Sun grab a 18-16 lead which became 19-16 after the Indian lost a video referral. At 20-16, Sun hit the nets but she roared back into contest when Sindhu’s stretched low return at the forecourt could not cross the net.