India's PV Sindhu claims women's World Tour Finals gold in China

Sudhir Gupta 14:47 16/12/2018
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  • A gold at last for PV Sindhu.

    India’s PV Sindhu overcame her trend of faltering at the last hurdle to claim the gold medal in badminton’s season-ending World Tour Finals at Guangzhou in China on Sunday.

    The World No6 Indian shuttle ace overcame Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-17 in just over an hour in the women’s final to end the year on a high.

    The visibly emotional 23-year-old sank to her knees as she notched up the match-winning point against her Japanese opponent to end a spate of recent losses in major finals.

    Having had to contend with the runners-up medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as well as the Asian and Commonwealth Games this year, the India shuttle ace ensured there would be no further heartbreak as she imposed her dominance over the fifth-ranked Japanese.

    The two finalists pose on the podium with their medals.

    The two finalists pose on the podium with their medals.

    Sindhu had also suffered heartbreak in two previous World Championship finals with both of them ending in defeat. Having finally broken the duck, Sindhu was delighted to have finally found the answer to her finishing woes.

    “I’m really proud, the year has ended on a beautiful note,” the India star was quoted as saying by AFP.

    “People have been asking me the same question, I think the question won’t come again — asking why I always lose in the final.

    “It was good that people were asking me about losing so many finals because I had to ask myself why I was losing. Finally I got the answer.”

    In the men’s section, China’s Shi Yuqi exacted revenge on his World Championship loss to No1 ranked Kento Momota earlier this year by triumphing in straight sets in Sunday’s final.

    The World No2 beat Momota 21-12, 21-11 to shock the pre-tournament favourite in what was the biggest win of his still fledging career so far.

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