In an absolutely enthralling gold medal match, India’s PV Sindhu lost 21-19 12-21 15-21 to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the women’s singles finale at the Rio Centro Pavilion in front of a packed house on Friday. It was a tremendous effort from Sindhu in a losing cause, but her silver medal finish still gave scores of Indian fans plenty of reason to celebrate.
The opening game began on an even note with both players looking to ease into the match. But it was the top seed who went in front at the 3-2 mark, before winning the next two points on the trot to go 5-2 up. She gathered momentum after that, mixing crosscourt smashes with the drops shots very well to eventually lead 11-6 at the interval.
The other side of the interval saw the Spaniard continue to have the advantage as both players ran all around the court . But the turnaround for the Indian came at the 15-11 mark, when she suddenly found some much-needed momentum. She won four out of the next five points to cut the lead to one and make it 15-16.
But Marin quickly took control and at the 19-16 mark she seemed to have the game in her bag. But when it seemed all over, the Indian pulled out yet another rabbit out of the hat, winning five points on the trot to take the game 21-19 and put the reigning champion under enormous pressure.
The second game saw the Spaniard show exactly why she is the reigning world champion, as she turned on the offense to leave Sindhu out of breath. Marin's unbridled aggression reaped rich rewards, and she eventually clinched the game 21-12.
It was absolutely critical that Sindhu took the early lead in the decider, but it wasn’t to be as Marin raced away to a 6-1 advantage. Just like she had in the opening game though, the 21-year-old Indian fought back exceptionally well to win nine out of the next 13 points to make it 10-10.
But it was Marin who took the lead at the break and after that, she took full control of proceedings, winning points at a canter to lead 14-10. There seemed to some hope at the 14-16 mark, but Marin proved to be too good in the end, winning five out of last six points to take the game and the match 21-15.
It has nevertheless been a very, very commendable effort from Sindhu, and she should be very proud of her performance. The whole of India most certainly is.
Final Scoreline: Carolina Marin beat PV Sindhu 19-21 21-15 21-12
