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Although it was in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, there was no way that anyone was going to miss the epic duel between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in the Women's Singles final of the Commonwealth Games 2018.
Saina Nehwal had a tough semi-final match against Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland whereas PV Sindhu had a comfortable win over Michelle Li of Canada even though the first game was tough. Saina, older of the two at 28, is back after having faced many career-threatening injuries. Moreover, there are many detractors who talk about her being old and that she should retire. Sindhu is much younger at 23. She has had some good achievements recently.
But on the other hand, Saina, after returning to train under Pullela Gopichand, has become fitter. She won the Senior Badminton National Championship in India and finished as the runners-up at the Indonesian Masters in 2018. Taking another perspective, it has been seen that many times, Sindhu falls just a little short when it comes to the big matches. She was the runner-up in Olympics 2016, the World Championship 2017 and the India Senior National Badminton Championship in 2017. Considering all these factors, it was a match between two worthy equals.
Here's a video that shows the high quality of the match:
The general consensus was that Sindhu would dominate the match from the beginning with her powerful smashes. But it was Saina who was more aggressive from the very beginning. She won some early points quickly with her clever play and by not allowing Sindhu to dominate. She took the lead to 6-4 and then stretched it to 9-4. Sindhu, of course, came back into the game but Saina won the first game at 21-18. In the second game, Sindhu got her bearings right. She started well and led Saina at 11-8, then went on to lead at 15-12 and 19-16.
It surely looked like the match was going to be stretched to the third game. But Saina got to 19-19 after a breathtaking rally at 17-19 in which both players dug deep into their reserves of stamina, agility and talent. She then won the game at 23-21 to win the gold medal.
Saina played an attacking game and forced Sindhu to be in the defensive mode. She hit a lot of powerful smashes and hit the shuttle at various angles. Sindhu did make a couple of errors and her backhand was not the best. She could not play her natural aggressive game too.
If the match had gone to the third game, Sindhu might have been able to clinch the gold as Saina did look more spent and Sindhu seemed to be getting her rhythm. It was a great match for India with two podium finishes. It was a good win for Saina as she proved that she still has a long way ahead. Sindhu bettered her performance in the Commonwealth Games with a silver. She had won the bronze medal at the 2014 Games in Glasgow. It was a wonderful opportunity for fans to see the two fantastic players battling out on the court.
