India Open 2018, Final: PV Sindhu vs Beiwen Zhang, Live Match Updates

It has been a bitter-sweet start to the new season for Indian shuttlers. While we had two Indians reaching the finals of Super 500 events in back-to-back weeks, a title would have definitely made it sweeter.

Let us hope this inspires our Indian shuttlers to work harder and come up with titles in the coming events.

And that wraps up our live coverage of the India Open 2018.

Thanks for staying with us throughout the week.

We'll be back in two days as the Asia Team Badminton Championships starts on Tuesday.

Goodbye!

That would be a tough loss for Sindhu as she had a match point. But credit to Zhang for never giving up and she smartly took the pace off the shuttle to take the advantage away from the Indian.

But what a week for the China-born American! She beat both Saina and Sindhu at the India Open to claim her maiden Major title of any kind!

Final result: Zhang def Sindhu 21-18, 11-21, 22-20

And Zhang CLOSES OUT THE WIN!

22-20

Huge smash from Zhang and she has a match point

21-20

And Zhang saves it by taking pace off the shuttle

20-20

Great attack from Sindhu and she GETS A MATCH POINT!

20-19

And SINDHU LEVELS IT

19-19

Crowd is ROARING!!!!!

A quick hit from Sindhu into the open court gets her one point

18-19

It's 19-17 to the American

The crowd is desperately trying to urge Sindhu on

The American looks more comfortable right now and is nearer to the finish line

18-16

Zhang leads 17-15

An excellent drop from the American

16-15 she leads

Zhang again beats the lanky Sindhu with low shots

15-15

Hard to choose between the two

14-14

It's a mini lead for Sindhu

13-12

And we are back to even

12-12

Zhang's occasional down-the-line shots off the forehand are not helping Sindhu

12-11 she leads

And it's ALL LEVEL

11-11

Huge scream from Sindhu as Zhang fails to change the direction
10-11

It's 11-9 to Zhang going into the mid-game interval.

A sharp crosscourt slice from the Indian
9-10

Another point for the Indian

8-10

Sindhu outsmarts the American at the net and pulls one back

7-10

Sindhu manages to keep the shuttle away from the net and sends it right on the line

Trails 6-9

Testing times for Sindhu as she goes down to 4-8

A good couple of aggressive smashes from the American and she soars to 6-4

Fabulous movement all over the court by both the shuttlers and Zhang gets one back through a drop.

4-4

It's 3-3

Aggressive smashes from Zhang!

2-3

Zhang miscues a backhand lob

Sindhu up 3-1

And Sindhu leads 2-1

THIRD GAME

First point to Sindhu

And Sindhu doesn't waste any time in wrapping up the second game.

21-11

A are backhand volley error from Sindhu gifts a point to Zhang.

Sindhu still leads 19-11

Again Zhang is beaten by the net

10-18

Sindhu made her move the shuttle from side to side and ultimately Zhang's game broke down.
She is blocked by the net.

Sindhu 16-10

Zhang is slowly coming back but the Indian still has her nose in front.

14-10

Sindhu wrests away the momentum and goes up to 13-8

Roar from the crowd!

And Sindhu has suddenly lost her sharpness.

A great few points from the American, who again makes Sindhu pay

Zhang trails 8-12

Zhang grabs a couple of points after the break to reduce the gap.

6-11

Once again, Zhang's forehand breaks down and Sindhu is up 11-4 going into the mid-game interval.

Zhang can't return a tight spinning net shot from Sindhu

She trails 4-9

A rare mishit from Sindhu

8-3

Quick flurry of points by the Indian

8-2

The defending champion leads 7-2

Sindhu leads 6-2

Now Zhang is bothered by Sindhu's net game

She trails 2-5

A lot more aggression from Sindhu!

Body smash and she is up 4-2