Nanjing (China): PV Sindhu finished second best yet again in a major tournament final as she went down tamely to Carolina Marin in the World Championships’ women’s singles title clash, adding to the Indian’s tale of woes here, Sunday.
The Indian shuttler settled for another white metal in the showpiece following a 19-21, 10-21 loss to the Spaniard. Interestingly, Marin had also defeated Sindhu in the final of the Rio Olympics in 2016.
“It is very frustrating to lose again. Last time also I had played the finals. It is quite sad and I have to come back stronger and get back to the sessions and prepare for the next tournament,” said Sindhu, who suffered her fourth final loss this season.
Since 2016, it is Sindhu’s eighth loss in major finals, including defeats at Rio Olympics, Hong Kong Open (2017, 2018), Super Series Final (2017), India Open (2018) and Thailand Open (2018).
The 23-year-old Sindhu, who had lost an epic final to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at Glasgow last year, didn’t have answers to Marin’s blistering pace in the 45-minute contest.
The second silver meant Sindhu is the only Indian to have four World Championships podium finishes. She had won two bronze medals at the 2013 Guangzhou and 2014 Copenhagen editions.
Marin became the first woman shuttler to win the World Championships thrice. Before this title, she had won the title in 2014 and the 2015 Jakarta edition.
Sometimes it is not your day, ups and downs will always be there and you have to always be stronger. I’m bit sad for the loss but I have to take it as it is
PV Sindhu
Sindhu had entered the summit clash with a 5-6 loss-win head-to-head against Marin, but the Indian ace had won the last meeting at the Malaysian Open in June.
In the first set, Sindhu lagged 1-3 early on but the she slowly made her way to grab a 4-3 lead. The Spaniard committed too many unforced errors as Sindhu led 11-8 at the break. Marin crawled back twice, when trailing 11-15 and 17-18, and eventually sealed the set.
The Spaniard began the second game with her usual aggressive demeanour as Sindhu found her pace too hot to handle. The Spaniard soon raced to an 11-2 lead at the interval. After the breather, Marin continued to dominate the proceedings, pushing her opponent to commit errors. Eventually two unforced errors handed Marin her third title.