BWF World C’ships 2019 final as it happened: Sindhu creates history with a stunning win in the final

PV Sindhu 21-7 Nozomi Okuhara

WOW. JUST WOW. Its a repeat of the scoreline from the opening game against Chen in the semifinals and Sindhu has raced to a 21-7 scoreline in the opener and drawn first blood. Sensational body smash to clinch the opener.

PV Sindhu 20-7 Nozomi Okuhara

13 game points for Sindhu!

PV Sindhu 19-7 Nozomi Okuhara

A superb rally from both players (one of the rare ones so far) and it ends with a superb disguised drop from the backcourt by Okuhara. Sindhu follows that up with an aggressive point. Sindhu has been getting to the shuttle very early and not letting Okuhara settle into any rhythm but the Japanese is starting to find her footing now too.

PV Sindhu 17-4 Nozomi Okuhara

WOW. This is just something else. Okuhara trying everything, Sindhu has answers for it all. In attack and defence. The loud come ons from early in the game have given way to quiet fist bumps. Confident stuff from Sindhu. Okuhara finally wins two points on the trot but Sindhu responds with a super drop.

PV Sindhu 14-2 Nozomi Okuhara

Okuhara has upped the pace but she is not getting any room to attack, Sindhu is keeping everything flat even in defence. She has interestingly gone for Shots that were probably heading wide from Okuhara on more than occasion so far, showing great trust in her shot-making skills.

PV Sindhu 11-2 Nozomi Okuhara

SINDHU IS ON FIRE! What a start to the match. Two super-quick rallies to head into the interval with a massive lead. Job well begun by Sindhu... but Okuhara is more than capable from bouncing back here. She has not actually played that bad, just Sindhu has been too good so far.

Abhijeet Kulkarni: Well well. Sindhu has turned on the heat in this game after that long rally. She has been aggressive and pro-active with her shot selection.

PV Sindhu 8-2 Nozomi Okuhara

Mind you, Okuhara had a similar start against Intanon in the semifinal too before she bounced back. On the other hand, Sindhu was similarly ruthless against Chen Yufei. Basically, nothing to infer from this yet (other than Okuhara having to pick up her intensity as she stops a run of 7 straight points for Sindhu).

PV Sindhu 6-1 Nozomi Okuhara

Confident stuff from Sindhu. A good inside-out smash to Okuhara’s backhand that does not come back. Then one to Okuhara’s right that she did not have a chance to even get to.

PV Sindhu 4-1 Nozomi Okuhara

Three points on the trot for Sindhu, with good judgement at the baseline and then am up-tempo rally. Fist bumps and come ons already from the Indian. Good start.

PV Sindhu 1-1 Nozomi Okuhara

A longish rally to start off, surprise surprise. Sindhu attempts a spin shot at the net but doesn’t clear. Okuhara sends a push wide. Serves exchanged.

PV Sindhu 0-0 Nozomi Okuhara

On the referee’s right, Okuhara. To the left, Sindhu. Love all. PLAY!

5.31 pm: “If this match is half as good as the 2017 final, we are in for a treat,” says commentator Gill Clark. Cannot argue there. The formalities are done. Chapter XVI of Sindhu-Okuhara is upon us!

5.28 pm: Sindhu will face her most familiar rival for a third shot at the title. Both the players are 24 years old, both are former world No 2s, both are Olympic medal-winners and both have had relatively lean seasons by their high standards. The similarities end there though, with their style of play anything but alike.

For Sindhu’s part, she will be taking on a higher-ranked player for the third straight match at Basel 2019.

Toss update: Looked like Sindhu opts for sides, Okuhara will receive the first serve. Players are warming up.

5.26 pm: The players are walking out! The excitement is building!

Coming in to the tournament, Okuhara had a 29/10 win-loss record in 2019, compared to Sindhu’s 19/9. It has been a mixed year for the former world champion, much like Sindhu herself, with no major title won yet. Her best results have been finals appearances at Japan Open, Australian Open and Singapore open so far, meaning three silver medals compared to Sindhu’s solitary final appearance at Indonesia Open. As it stands, one of the two finallists are set to clinch their first title of 2019 and it is going to be at the biggest tournament of the year.

5.23 pm: Okuhara’s form at the 2019 World Championships:

Like Sindhu, the Japanese shuttler also had a first round-bye. Okuhara dropped her first game of the tournament in the semi-final in Basel, after having won her first three matches in straight games. She made light work of good players like former world No 2 Sung Ji Hyun and China’s He Bing Jao before 2013 World Champion Intanon stretched her all the way in what was a brutal, sensational semi-final. The Thai shuttler won the first game 21-17, after trailing 12-17, by winning nine straight points while Okuhara herself had won nine straight to bounce back from 8-17.

5.18 pm: Just enough time for you read our preview on how Sindhu can make sure she emerges victorious against Okuhara.

5.16 pm: The women’s doubles final, a repeat of 2018, was expected to be a classic. It was and then some. Time for medal presentations and then... it’s PV Sindhu’s match.

5.09 pm: The women’s double final, a repeat of last year, was expected to be a classic and after a dull first game, it exceeded all expectations.

5.05 pm: Fukushima and Hirota have been left heartbroken for the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR. Nagahara and Matsutomo have won back-to-back gold medals. With their SIXTH match point!! WHAT A FINAL.

5.03 pm: The Japanese doubles stars have already served a nail-bitter. Fukishima and Hiroto save five match points in the decider and now have a match point opportunity themselves. That has been saved by the defending world champs!!! MADNESS. 21-21 in the decider.

4.54 pm: You can read about India’s Para Badminton Worlds medallists here. And more reading for you in the tweet below, as we wait for Sindhu’s match which is imminent.

4.52 pm: Right, doesn’t seem to be long left for the Sindhu match now... the defending champs have taken a 17-12 lead in the final game.

4.51 pm: Some great news from Basel already as Pramod Bhagat has won two gold medals in the Para Badminton Worlds while Manasi Joshi won gold defeat No 1 seed Parul Parmar.

4.45 pm: Some more reading ahead of the final as the defending women’s doubles champs take a 11-9 lead into the change of ends for the decider...

Want to know how close the Sindhu-Okuhara rivalry has been? Starting with the Glasgow final the order of winners goes like this: Okuhara, Sindhu, Okuhara, Sindhu, Okuhara, Sindhu, Sindhu, Okuhara, Sindhu

4.31 pm: OF COURSE! This women’s doubles final was never going to be straightforward! Fukushima and Hirota needed five game points to force a decider against the reigning World Champions.

4.29 pm: Here’s a look at the previous meetings between Okuhara and Sindhu...

4,28 pm: Four game points from Fukushima / Hirota to force a decider and the reigning world champs have saved THREE of those.

4.18 pm: Fukushima and Hirota are fighting back in the second game, leading 15-12 now and are looking to force the decider.

4.17 pm: Our badminton expert Abhijeet Kulkarni was in Glasgow two years back when Sindhu and Okuhara served up that classic in 2017. He witnessed to greatness. Read his feature about that match as we warm up to the final here.

4.08 pm: Who can forget the breathtaking 73-shot rally which proved to be the most striking point of the 2017 final that lasted 110 minutes? Here’s a look at it again.

4.00 pm: We were all expecting a marathon women’s doubles match but the defending champs Matsutomo and Nagahara are running away with it! This is bit of a surprise. They have the opening game 21-11.

3.55 pm: The first final of the day is currently underway where two Japanese women’s doubles pairs are taking on each other. Current champions Matsutomo and Nagahara are leading the opening game against Fukushima and Hirota. Sindhu’s match is after this.

Hello all and welcome to our live coverage of what promises to be an epic day at the BWF Badminton World Championships 2019 in Basel!

The incredible PV Sindhu stands one win away from clinching the World Championships gold medal after storming into her third successive final with a straight-game win over All England champion Chen Yufei on Saturday.

Sindhu, who had claimed successive silver in the last two editions of the prestigious tournament beside two bronze, was a picture of perfection as she outclassed World No. 3 Chen of China 21-7 21-14 in a 40-minute semi-final.

The 24 year old from Hyderabad will face either 2017 winner Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the summit clash on Sunday.

It will be a rematch of the

Sindhu will face her most familiar rival for a shot at the title. Both the players are 24 years old, both are former world No 2s, both are Olympic medal-winners and both have had relatively lean seasons by their high standards. The similarities end there though, with their style of play anything but alive.

In what is one of the most prolific rivalries of the current era, PV Sindhu currently leads the head-to-head 8-7. The two met in the 2017 Worlds final which the Japanese edged by a scoreline of 21-19, 20-22, 22-20.

Will Sindhu get her revenge and finally be a world champion? Stick around for all the updates from the match.

(With inputs from PTI)