Sindhu Scripts History, Wins World Gold at Basel

PV Sindhu became the first Indian gold medalist at the World Championships with a stunning victory over world number 4, Nozomi Okuhara at St. Jacobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.

With a scoreline of 21-7 21-7, this wasn’t just a victory of an emphatic proportion, this was a demolition of one of the world’s best women’s singles players. And of course, a sweet revenge for a heart-breaking loss Sindhu suffered at the hands of Okuhara two years ago.

Taking to the court in the second match of the day, PV Sindhu was purposeful right from the start and hardly gave her the opponent a chance to settle in and play her natural game. Taking full advantage of her height and reach, Sindhu plundered winners at will and raced to an 8-2 lead in the opening exchanges. With Okuhara struggling to get any kind of rhythm, Sindhu reeled off a string off points and had a handsome 11-2 lead at the mid-game interval.

With five straight points after the interval, Sindhu made her intentions of not giving even an inch all too clear. While Okuhara did manage to put a few points together in the final stretch of the game, she was way too behind to cause any concern for the three-time finalist.

With the first game in her pocked in just over a quarter of an hour, Sindhu was clearly in the ascendancy heading into the second game. Any early resistance and fight Okuhara had hoped for lasted barely five points, as Sindhu led 3-2 in the early punts. She then peeled off six points on the bounce to effectively kill off any challenge, and a further string of seven points put an end to any flickering hopes of a fightback.

At 20-7, PV Sindhu had her fight championship point, and she needed no second invitation to take the game, match and championship 21-7 21-7 – in one of the most astonishing take down of opponents in a world championship finals.

While, many spoke about how Sindhu could be third-time lucky, but the fact that she won in such convincing manner was down to no luck. She’s faced a fair bit of flak for losing a few finals, but this one would be a sweet revenge against all her detractors.