Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu produced a superlative performance beating reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain 21-19, 21-16 to win her maiden India Open Super Series title, in New Delhi on Sunday.
In a 46 minutes match the third seeded Indian Sindhu dominated the match right from the word go in front of the home crowd. The win also narrowed down Sindhu's head-to-head record against the Spaniard to 4-5. Sindhu had last defeated Marin in the BWF Super Series in Dubai last yearIn a much-anticipated match of the evening, a replay of Rio Olympics title showdown, the star Indian shuttler came out with a purpose and looked determined for a revenge.
In the opening game Sindhu raced to a 6-1 lead before Marin slowly and steadily clawed her way back into the affair.After the first six points, it was a closely fought encounter between the two of the world's best shuttlers. Sindhu went into the break with a slim 11-9 lead.The intense fight continued thereafter and at one stage both the shuttlers were locked at 16-16 when Marin won a brilliant rally with a cross court drop shot. For the first time in the game, Marin took a slim 19-18 lead over Sindhu but the Indian came back strongly to deny her opponent any breathing space with a smash that was followed by a drop shot at net to even the scores t 19-19. The Indian reached game point when Marin found the net and she wrapped it up in no time with a body smash.
Sindhu kept her foot on the pedal at the start of the second game, running up a 4-0 lead in the blink of an eye. Though Marin continued to eat into the margin, she could never get back on level terms thereafter. Double World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu never looked back and sealed the match with a 21-16 victory.
