In a largely one-sided match, P.V. Sindhu sculpted victory to become the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Badminton Championships, beating her opponent from Japan, former World Champion, Nozomi Okuhara, 21-7, 21-7.
Speaking after her win, Sindhu said, "I won for my country. I'm really very proud about it, being an Indian." She added, "a big thanks to my coach, Mr. Kim, and also Gopi sir, and the whole support staff who supported me. and also to my patrenrs and I dedicate this award to my mom — it's her birthday today — happy birthday mom."
Sindhu overwhelmed Okuhara 21-7 in the first game, with an aggressive, clean style of play. The scoreline was 0-1, 9-1, 11-2, 16-4, 18-5, 19-6 and 21-7 by the end of the first game.
The second game saw Okuhara make a brief comeback before Sindhu outmanoeuvred her opponent, making use of the full court. After this point, Okuhara was visibly struggling to keep up, with Sindhu at 11-2 by the mid-game interval.
Sindhu made the finals after beating the fourth seed Chen Yu Fei 21-7 21-14.
Sindhu and Okuhara have faced off 15 times since 2012, which Sindhu leading the Head to Head 8-7. This is the third year in a row that Sindhu is meeting Okuhara at the BWC.
The two also faced off at the final of the concluding match of the 2018 World Tour, where Sindhu beat Okuhara 21-19, 21-17.
Indian players won medals in both the Singles this year, with Sai Praneeth winning a Bronze in the men’s category.
