Kolkata: Redemption achieved. Victory gained. Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu can finally celebrate as she went past her arch-rival Carolina Marin from Spain and claimed her maiden India Open title on Sunday. This win is something which she would remember for a long long time to come. The rivalry between the two heavyweights has a good solid history behind it but their epic encounter in the final of the Rio Olympics last year was something that grabbed a lot of eyeballs and drew a lot of attention worldwide. And after an intense match, the then world number one prevailed over the Indian. Sindhu put up a good fight and won a lot of hearts but nonetheless had to stay content with a silver.
Their next meeting was in another final, that of the Dubai World Superseries Finals last December. Although Sindhu exacted her revenge over the Spaniard, the victory wasn’t special and memorable as the latter was facing some injury problems. Though Sindhu beat her in straight sets, the victory hardly came into the limelight.
And Sindhu wasn’t done with Marin yet. After going past some serious competition in the form of fellow Indian Saina Nehwal and fourth seeded Sung Ji Hyun, en route to the finals of the India Open, she wasn’t going to let all of this go waste and quite rightly she did not disappoint. This time, the contest was fair with both these stars in prime form and perhaps that’s why, the victory is more special.
Dominating the match right from the word go, she never lost her control over the game and outplayed the Olympic champion Marin by 21-19, 21-16. She finally got her redemption and proved to the world that her perseverance and commitment is second to none, at least amongst shuttlers today.
Ending up on the losing side of the nets at the Rio Olympics last year, she won a lot of praises for her spirited performance. But champions, they say, are never content with being anything lesser than the best. And yesterday, her classic victory over Marin testfies just that. Her India Open victory would thus be an addition to her Syed Modi International title earlier this year. This resounding triumph over a world class opponent in the form of Marin is going to send a strong message to all shuttlers across the world that Sindhu is here to stay. Also, an Indian winning major titles in 2017, spells a good future for Indian badminton in the world stage for the future to come. Well done Sindhu!