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India's golden girl : PV Sindhu,
India’s top-ranked shuttler’s historic maiden Worlds yellow metal is great sign looking at 2020 Games
PV Sindhu PV Sindhu reacts after winning her final against Nozomi Okuhara in Basel on Sunday , Reuters
Every time Indian badminton goes through a lean patch, its highest-ranked woman shuttler PV Sindhu comes to the fore.
At a time when there was not a single win this year for Indian shuttlers, barring the incredible feat of young men's doubles shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy at the Thailand Open early this month, Indian badminton was staring at many questions.
This silver lining was given in the form of India's first ever badminton gold at the World Championships by Sindhu in her third final appearance in Basel on Sunday.
She took only 37 minutes to demolish Japanese world No. 4 and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of 21-7 21-7 in perhaps one of the most lop-sided battles not befitting a Worlds final.
"Brilliant. Sindhu was too good," said former chief national coach and Olympian U Vimal Kumar to DNA.
Current world No. 31 in men's circuit Parupalli Kashyap went one step further and said: "As far as the World Championships goes, no one deserves the gold more than her. Two finals, one so close (2017) and another totally outclassed by Carolina (Marin, 2018). Getting to the final and not winning gold obviously hurt her a lot."
Vimal said that he has not seen Sindhu dominate an opponent like she did against Okuhara on Sunday. "Sindhu outclassed Okuhara," Vimal said. "She was too good in every department, she was moving really well. Sindhu never gave Okuhara a chance. It is a great day for Indian badminton and I'm very pleased for her. It will give her a huge confidence going into 2020 Olympics."
Kashyap said that Sindhu has the knack of raising her level when it comes to the Worlds. "She has always produced her best game in this event. She is really blessed that she has been healthy. I have seen so many players sick or injured or something, or for some reason not able to peak. Sindhu is blessed. Credit goes to her coaches and trainers who ensure she stayed in shape all the time," Kashyap added.
Kashyap saw the victory coming the moment Sindhu defeated former world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in three games in the quarterfinal. "Sindhu performs her best at the right moment. It was a very close battle against Tai. She had to fight back. Once she got through that match, the pressure was off her.
"After Sindhu beat Tai, the first thing I said was that her next two opponents are pretty defensive and have absolutely no chance. Unless someone has an aggressive style, it is tough for defensive players to have any chance against Sindhu.
"She is just able to vary her attack, vary her game, play at a high pace that has troubled all her opponents," he added.
The win will do Sindhu a world of good in terms of raising her already popular status even further and the cash awards that come her way, with Badminton Association of India (BAI) announcing Rs 20 lakh, besides Rs 5 lakh for B Sai Praneeth's bronze medal show.
Kashyap, however, hoped that the system in terms of administration will improve. "What this win will do is that it will change a lot of things for Sindhu. The number of kids taking to badminton will only increase. But, as Gopi (Pullela Gopichand) sir said in a recent interview, the system needs to improve.
"I wish the BAI can take this win as a stepping stone and structure its system in a better way. I don't think anyone other than Sindhu is going benefit from this victory.
"It is now great to say we have a world champion in badminton too. After winning bronze two times, and silver two other times, she now has a whole collection of Worlds medal. It's quite amazing. A lot more people will play badminton. People will talk it is great for Indian badminton. A system needs to be in place for the sport to grow," Kashyap said.
While giving Sindhu all the credit for her win that's never seen before in Indian badminton, Kashyap also spoke for the welfare of the sport in the country.
"We only react when we have had miserable results. But the fact is that we can become a stronger sporting nation and the various government schemes for sports need to keep going on and on."
SOURCE : https://www.dnaindia.com/sports/report-pv-sindhu-india-s-golden-girl-2784946
