New Delhi: India’s Olympic 2016 silver medallist PV Sindhu overcame her Rio Games conqueror Carolina Marin of Spain in straight games to win her maiden India Open Superseries badminton title at a packed Siri Fort Sports Complex here Sunday.
The match-up between Sindhu and Marin was a repeat of the 2016 Rio Olympic final which saw the Spaniard taking away the gold medal in a hard-fought encounter.
But in front of her home fans here, third seed Sindhu posted a 21-19, 21-16 triumph in 46 minutes to give another display of her fast-rising career.
The Spanish top seed struggled with her net game which proved to be the difference between the two. Backed by a partisan crowd, Sindhu got off to a flying start, opening up a 6-1 lead but Marin got her act together to reduce the deficit to one at 6-7, thanks to her delectable half smashes.
Sindhu then upped the ante and then pushed Marin into all corners. Hitting to the right of left-hander Marin, Sindhu gained the ascendancy even though the fighting Marin kept coming back at her.
Sindhu felt the pressure as Marin equalised at the 16-point mark and for the first took the lead at the next point. The see-saw game continued till the 19-point mark. Then, a powerful stroke from Sindhu to which Marin put it wide made it 20-19 for the Indian. Sindhu then sealed the first game when Marin was slow to defend a half smash.
The second game also saw Sindhu getting in the lead early, forcing Marin to play the catch-up game. Then onwards, double World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu never looked back and sealed the match with a 21-16 victory.
Indo-Asian News Service
