Indian shuttler PV Sindhu beat Spain’s Carolina Marin 21-19, 21-16 to lift the India Open title for the first time in her career in New Delhi on Sunday, in what was a repeat of the women’s singles final at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sindhu raced away to a 6-1 lead in the first game, combining carefully executed drop shots with deft smashes. This elicited an immediate response from Marin, who responded with a series of powerful body smashes from the net in the game’s frenetic opening minutes.
Sindhu held on to her slender lead by pushing Marin to the baseline, from where the Spaniard was forced into making a series of errors. Marin, however, battled hard and went into the lead at 18-17. Sindhu then showed tremendous fortitude to reel off three straight points from being 18-19 down to clinch the first game.
Sindhu started the second game on the front foot, blazing away to a 4-0 lead. Marin struggled against Sindhu’s body smashes, but slowly closed the deficit once again with some deft cross-court drops. Deep into the second game, Sindhu picked up three straight points to move to a 18-13 lead, and pressed on to victory. Marin, carrying a minor injury, was made to move across the court far more than her previous games, a strategy that worked remarkably well for Sindhu.
This is Sindhu’s first India Open win. Her compatriot Saina Nehwal won the trophy in 2010 and 2015. The win took Sindhu’s ranking to a career high World No. 2.
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