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What’s the story?
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu has promised to win the title after becoming the first Indian in six years to reach the final of the Dubai World Superseries Finals on Saturday. The Pullela Gopichand protégé staved off a mighty challenge from the rising Chinese shuttler, Chen Yufei to pull off a 21-15, 21-18 win in 59 minutes.
The two orchestrated some fine rallies that had the pro-Indian crowd on the edge of their seats. One of the rallies had Sindhu doubling over and gasping for breath after the two played 57 shots.
The 22-year-old gave her thoughts to bwfworldsuperseries.com following her win where she said, “It was a good quality match, even though it was over in straight games, there were a lot of long rallies. I’m happy to be the first Indian in the Women’s Singles final here; I would like to become the first Indian to win the title as well!”
In case you didn’t know
Sindhu thus joined Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju as the fourth Indian to make it to the final of this prestigious event. Gutta and Diju reached the final in 2009 while Nehwal did it in 2011.
The heart of the matter
Sindhu elaborated that the 2-3 points that she was able to take when Chen Yufei levelled matters, was what helped her edge the spirited Chinese. The Indian also admitted that she is expecting a long match in the final and acknowledged the fact that it will not be as easy as it was in her group clash with Akane Yamaguchi.
“I was smart to take two or three points when she caught up with me. It’s like a home crowd. It’s good to see so many Indians supporting me here.
“I’m not going to expect anything tomorrow. It might be a long match. It won’t be as easy as it was yesterday (against Yamaguchi) when I had an 11-2 lead,” she said.
What’s next?
Sindhu will face the World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi in the title showdown on Sunday afternoon. She had prevailed over the Japanese 21-9, 21-13 in their group clash that took place on Friday.
Author’s take
Sindhu will add another golden chapter to Indian badminton if she can manage to win the title. She has remained undefeated so far at this season finale which bolsters her chances further. It will only be apt to see an Indian on the top podium after what has been the best year for Indian badminton in a long time.
