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Star shuttler and India's most reliable player in the BWF circuit, PV Sindhu has been the flagbearer for badminton in India. The reigning World Champion, Sindhu occupied the headlines after the PBL Auctions were held in November.
Sindhu was retained by the Hyderabad Hunters, which is her hometown team, for a whopping ₹77 lakh. Although Sindhu did not enjoy a good second half of 2019 with early exits in a string of tournaments, her glamorous first half was enough to maintain a rock-solid status and fetch her that lumpsum amount.
Being the golden girl of Indian badminton, the world will look onto PV Sindhu with high expectations and the Hyderabad Hunters will definitely be banking upon the experience of the shuttler in order for them to repeat their winning feat from the 2017 edition of the PBL, under Carolina Marin's captaincy.
With the 2020 edition soon to begin from the 20th of January, the badminton action is bound to be exciting from the off. The PBL is one of the most awaited event in the Indian calendar of sports as the league-format has been responsible for increasing the popularity of the quickest racquet sport in the world.
Sindhu has been a part of the winning team in only one season, when she captained the Chennai Smashers (Now Chennai Superstarz) to the title during the third season of the PBL.
However, the league has also seen Sindhu being pushed to her extremes by some of her fondest as well as fiercest rivals challenging her on the court. Before the new edition begins, here we have a look at three of her best encounters from the past few season.
#1 PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin
The memory of the season-opening clash is still fresh, in a match that saw PV Sindhu represent the Hyderabad Hunters side against former World No.1 and arch-nemesis, Carolina Marin, who donned the jersey of the Pune 7 Aces.
The memorable encounter from the 2018 edition of the Premier Badminton League was played at the National Sports Club of India, Mumbai and saw the two great rivals lock horns in a bid to be supreme.
The shuttler from Spain, Marin has been the cause of ample trouble in the path to glory in Sindhu's career. She has stood long and steadfast like a reluctant barrier, unconvinced to budge and claim the gold medals for herself in countless tournaments, whilst Sindhu had to settle for silver.
Like every other encounter, the match in 2018 was also much-awaited and intense even though the Hunters were leading 4-1 in the tie against the Aces. Sindhu, post some resounding success at the BWF World Tour Finals looked sharp and in good form.
In the heated encounter, interspersed with loud cries of anguish and joy from the Spaniard, Sindhu ensured she kept Marin on her toes. Initially, Marin took the first game 15-11 while Sindhu bagged the second 15-8.
The final game was one of equal with both the shuttlers exchanging points. At 13-13, Sindhu took two straight points to win the match. With the final point claimed, Sindhu let out an exaltant cry of happiness after the triumph.
Marin, who will represent the Bengaluru Raptors this season will do all in her power to put up a winning show against Sindhu, and this clash could be a season-defining encounter.
#2 PV Sindhu vs Saina Nehwal
Perhaps the two best-known shuttlers in the country who can be plurally held responsible for making badminton the popular sport it is today, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal are the go-to girls for Indian badminton. The sparks keep flying whenever the two meet and the PBL arranges for those perfect opportunities for the duo to meet on court.
Both students of Pullela Gopichand, Nehwal and Sindhu are two of the best in the nation and a match between them has the fans going tizzy with excitement. So far there has been only two occasions when they have clashed against each other. Most recently, in the 2018-19 edition of the PBL, Sindhu got an overwhelming win against the senior player in three intense games.
Representing the North East Warriors, Nehwal, although not in total fitness, gave a stiff fight to the marquee player of the Hyderabad Hunters. PV Sindhu finally emerged victorious in 3 sets in a tightly-fought 10-15, 15-9, 15-5 match.
In the first game, Sindhu raced ahead to a 10-6 lead. But Saina had bounced back to take the game by 15-10 points after racing on to claim 9 points in a row. In the second game, Sindhu finally brought her skills to the forefront and put up a hard fight against Saina. Sindhu claimed the second set before dominating the third where she won the match after playing an effortless game that was sealed in 15-5.
Saina Nehwal, who is not enjoying her best form currently has chosen to opt out of this edition of the PBL but the prospect of seeing this duo clashing against each other is on every badminton fan's perpetual wishlist.
#3 PV Sindhu vs Kirsty Gilmour
There is yet another sensational rival that PV Sindhu has and she comes in the form of Scottish sensation, Kirsty Gilmour. When it comes to the PBL, Gilmour has caused trouble for Sindhu and their latest encounter at the 2018-19 edition was nothing short of a thriller.
Riding on the success of her 2018 BWF World Tour Finals victory, Sindhu was in a formidable form back then. Playing against the Ahmedabad Smash Masters, Sindhu had to ably lead her team of Hyderabad Hunters, who were the defending champions, towards safety and into the semi-finals.
Kirsty Gilmour had chanced upon such an occasion and gave Sindhu a stiff fight, making it one of the most memorable matches of the PBL so far and a great victory for Sindhu.
Till date, it remains as one of the most exciting matches of the league. Sindhu, who was the skipper for the Hyderabad Hunters was really made to go the distance by a feisty Gilmour. Pushing the extremese tirelessly, Gilmour really got to Sindhu who had no choice but to rise to the occasion.
Gilmour and Sindhu kept abreast of each other on the points table which caused the match to stretch to three games. With intense rallies and jaw-dropping points, Sindhu got the better off Gilmour 15-14, 12-15, 15-14 after saving a couple of match points. Gilmour, will now be a part of the Chennai Superstarz franchise in this edition of the PBL and a chance meeting with Sindhu remains on the cards.
