P.V Sindhu clinches the Macau Open title

P.V Sindhu

Defending Champion and Indian teenage badminton sensation P.V Sindhu clinched the $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title after defeating the unseeded 18-year-old Korean shuttler Kim Hyo Min 21-12, 21-17 in the title match which lasted for 45 minutes.

Sindhu, who dropped to World No. 11 in the latest BWF World Rankings, started the match on a bright note against the World ranked 91 Korean shuttler as she took a three points lead before the mid game interval of the opening game.

Leading by 14-9, Sindhu reeled off next five points in quick succession to make the scores 19-9. With such a huge lead, Sindhu faced absolutely no difficulty in closing the opening game 21-12.

2nd seed Sindhu, who was almost knocked out in the second round of the tournament against the Indonesian Lindaweni Fanetri when she was trailing by 6-16 in the decider looked in top notch in the first game as she completely outplayed her inexperienced opponent by playing some aggressive shots followed by deft net shots.

Second game was a lot more evenly contested as both the players were fighting hard for each and every point. Sindhu started the game well, taking a 5-2 lead but Kim fought back to equalise at 5-5.

After a brief tussle, the Korean player was back in business and took a 11-8 lead but after the mid game interval the Hyderabadi shuttler upped her game and notched up five points on the trot to make the scores 13-11.

Trailing by 16-17, Kim grabbed three straight points and reduced the gap to just one. Leading by 20-17, Sindhu converted the first match opportunity to win her first title of the year.