PV Sindhu beats Nozomi Okuhara to win Korea Open Super Series

NEW DELHI: India's PV Sindhu won her third Super Series title beating Nozomi Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 in the women's singles final of the Korea Open in a thrilling encounter in Seoul on Sunday. Sindhu, who had lost to Okuhara in an epic World Badminton Championships final three weeks back, got the better of the eighth seed in an encounter that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.



After Okuhara dominated the proceedings early on, Sindhu managed to save two game points and won the first game before being trounced by a ten-point margin in the second. Sindhu, seeded fifth in the tournament, got her act together in the third and the final game to take the title, her second Super Series win this year after India Open.



Speaking to TOI Sports soon after his ward PV Sindhu won the finals, India's chief national badminton coach said: What a super match! Both players showed great spirit and determination. It was almost a repeat of the World championship final, though the result reversed, in our favour. Both players are great champions."

This win helped Sindhu level the head-to-head stats against the Japanese 4-4 and in the process also broke Okuhara's 14-match winning streak.



In a close game one, both shuttlers shared the lead often with Sindhu looking more aggressive than Okuhara. Sindhu got on top of the long rallies but Okuhara put up a strong resistance picking up the Sindhu's smashes with ease. What was interesting to note was Sindhu experimented with the cross court backhand whip and while couple of her attempts went wide, Okuhara found it tough to track the movement.



Sindhu earned four points with that shot. Okuhara, looked strong in the rallies, but Sindhu's reach made it tough for the Japanese to place her shots beyond the Indian. Even though Okuhara enjoyed two game points, four consecutive points from Sindhu meant the Indian took the first game 22-20.

After losing the first game, Okuhara stepped on the gas and looked in her elements in the long rallies. Okuhara got her touch back with the smashes that earned her five points, two of which came late in the game that assured Sindhu was left with too much to do. Her net play looked strong while Sindhu failed to connect with the cross court backhand whip well. Okuhara claimed the second game with thumping 10-point margin to take the final to the third and the deciding game.

Okuhara got things running in the final game, before Sindhu took over. While the Indian looked a bit tired in the second game, she was rejuvenated in the third and seemed to take the initiative with the attacks and that paid dividend. Sindhu managed to maintain a healthy lead for most part of the game. Okuhara, who looked sublime in the Game 2, started to lose the plot and three straight long shots meant Sindhu took a six-point advantage in the deciding game.

Okuhara though made a final dash but with her unforced errors count going up, the Japanese was left to play catch up. Sindhu only had to maintain her composure. Okuhara though was not going down without a fight but Sindhu managed to stave off the spirited Japanese by winning the longest- 56-shot - rally of the match that took Sindhu to 19-16. Sindhu had three match point opportunities and converted the second one to claim the title and become the first Indian shuttler to win in Korea.

The two 22-year-olds, who were involved in the second longest match of women's singles at the Worlds final, entertained the crowd once again at another major final.

P V Sindhu Won Silver at World Badminton Championship 2017

P V Sindhu Won Silver at World Badminton Championship 2017

PV Sindhu won the Silver medal in World Badminton Championship 2017. She lost the historic match against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in an epic final, in Glasgow, Scotland. In the longest match of the tournament, Sindhu lost (19-21 22-20 20-22) after battling hard for one hour and 49 minutes.

For India, it still is a historic edition since for the first time country’s shuttler are returning with two medals. Saina Nehwal won a bronze.

Important Takeaways From Above News-

• Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to win a medal in this event when he took a bronze in the men’s singles in 1983.
• Women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged another bronze in 2011.

Source- The Indian Express

बैडमिंटन वर्ल्ड चैंपियनशिप्स: सायना नेहवाल ने भारत के लिए मेडल पक्का किया

साइना नेहवालPC: file photo

भारत की स्टार महिला शटलर सायना नेहवाल ने शुक्रवार को बैडमिंटन वर्ल्ड चैंपियनशिप्स में स्कॉटलैंड की किर्स्टी गिलमोर को संघर्षपूर्ण मुकाबले में 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 से हराकर महिला सिंगल्स के सेमीफाइनल में प्रवेश किया।

2015 जकार्ता वर्ल्ड चैंपियनशिप्स की सिल्वर मेडलिस्ट ने गिलमोर को एक घंटे 14 मिनट के कड़े संघर्ष के बाद हराने में सफलता हासिल की और भारत के लिए टूर्नामेंट में पदक पक्का किया। 

सायना और गिलमोर के बीच शुरुआत से ही मुकाबला कड़ा रहा। पहले गेम में भारतीय महिला शटलर ने 8-5 की बढ़त बनाई, लेकिन स्कॉटिश शटलर ने वापसी करते हुए स्कोर बराबर कर दिया। गिलमोर ने एंगल्स का इस्तेमाल करते हुए सायना को खूब परेशान किया और लगातार 6 अंक हासिल करके अपनी बढ़त 14-8 की कर ली। सायना ने फिर गजब की वापसी करते हुए स्कोर 16-17 कर दिया। दोनों शटलर 19-19 की बराबरी पर पहुंच गए थे। तभी गिलमोर से जजमेंट में गलती हुई और जल्द ही सायना ने गेम पॉइंट हासिल करते हुए 21-19 से सेट अपने नाम किया।


दूसरे सेट में गिलमोर और सायना के बीच कड़ी टक्कर जारी रही। इस सेट में शुरुआत में सायना ने 11-9 की बढ़त बना रखी थी।  मगर गिलमोर ने दमदार वापसी करते हुए सेट अपने नाम कर लिया।

निर्णायक सेट में सायना ने बेहतरीन शुरुआत करते हुए 5-0 की बढ़त बना ली थी। उन्होंने इसे 11-5 से हाफ टाइम तक बरकरार भी रखा। इस सेट में सायना ने गिलमोर को वापसी का कोई मौका नहीं दिया और 21-15 से सेट अपने नाम किया।

सायना का सेमीफाइनल में नोजोमी ओकुहरा से मुकाबला होना है, जिन्होंने वर्ल्ड की नंबर-1 महिला शटलर स्पेन की कैरोलिन मरीन को 21-18, 14-21 और 21-15 से हराया।

सायना नेहवाल की जीत के साथ ही भारत के वर्ल्ड चैंपियनशिप्स में दो पदक पक्के हो चुके हैं। एक पदक सायना का जीतना तय है जबकि सेमीफाइनल में प्रवेश करने वाली पीवी सिंधू ने भी पदक पक्का कर लिया है। भारतीय पुरुष शटलर किदंबी श्रीकांत का सफर क्वार्टरफाइनल में खत्म हो गया।

'चीन की दीवार' को तोड़कर विश्व चैंपियनशिप के फाइनल में पहुंची सिंधू

पीवी सिंधू

भारत की नंबर एक बैडमिंटन खिलाड़ी पीवी सिंधू ने सेमीफाइनल में चीन की चेन यू फी को सीधे सेटो मे 21-13, 21-10 से हराकर फाइनल में प्रवेश कर लिया। रियो ओलंपिक की सिल्वर मेडलिस्ट सिंधू ने विश्व चैंपियनशिप में अपने लिए सिल्वर मेडल पक्का कर लिया है। अब फाइनल में उनकी निगाह स्वर्ण पदक पर होंगी। फाइनल में सिंधू का मुकाबला जापानी खिलाड़ी ओकुहारा से होगा जिन्होंने दूसरे सेमीफाइनल में भारत की साइना नेहवाल को मात देकर फाइनल में जगह बनाई। फाइनल मुकाबला रविवार दोपहर खेला जाएगा। 

सिंधू ने पहले गेम में शानदार खेल दिखाया। हालांकि चीनी खिलाड़ी चेन यू फी ने 4-6 से शुरुआती बढ़त बना ली थी लेकिन इसके बाद सिंधू ने वापसी करते हुए 7-7 से बराबरी की। जब स्कोर 8-8 से बराबर था सिंधू ने उसके बाद लगातार 6 अंक हासिल किए और स्कोर को 13-8 तक ले गईं।  इसके बाद सिंधू ने यू फी को वापसी का कोई मौका नहीं दिया और पहला गेम 21-13 से अपने नाम कर लिया। 


सिंधू ने शानदार खेल दिखाते हुए चीनी खिलाड़ी को दूसरे सेट में भी कोई मौका नहीं दिया। दूसरे गेम में सिंधू ने शानदार खेल दिखाया और 8-0 की बढ़त बना ली। दूसरे गेम के पहले हाफ में ही मैच में अपनी पकड़ सिंधू ने 11-1 से मजबूत कर ली थी। यहां से हार की कोई संभावना नहीं बची थी। लेकिन इसके बाद यू फी ने वापसी की कोशिश की और स्कोर को 16-8 तक ले जाने में सफल हुईं लेकिन सिंधू ने वापसी में देरी न करते हुए 21-10 से मैच अपने नाम कर लिया और पहली बार विश्वचैंपियनशिप के फाइनल में पहुंचने में सफल हुईं। इससे पहले दो बार सिंधू को सेमीफाइनल से आगे बढ़ने के मौका नहीं मिला था।  

Sindhu wins maiden Super Series Premier title

Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the finals of the USD 700,000 China Open badminton tournament here today.

Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11 17-21 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.

World No. 11 Sindhu had come into the match with a 2-3 head-to-head record but then statistics counted little when she took the court at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

Sindhu dished out a dominating game as she zoomed to a healthy 11-5 lead early on. The Indian looked sharp and athletic as she engaged in a fast-paced game to bamboozle her opponent.

Eventually it was a cross court return which earned Sindhu a massive 12 game points at 20-8. A couple of smashes on Sindhu’s forehand and backhand and a drop going to the net helped Sun save three points. But Sindhu sealed the opening encounter after dominating a parallel game and finishing it with a return that hit Sun’s face.

In the second game, Sindhu had a slender 6-3 lead which she extended to 11-7 and 14-10. But Sun soon broke the rhythm by mixing her strokes and coming up with steep and powerful body smashes to catch up with the Indian at 14-14.

A sharp smash and a superb return on Sindhu’s backhand helped Sun grab a 18-16 lead which became 19-16 after the Indian lost a video referral. At 20-16, Sun hit the nets but she roared back into contest when Sindhu’s stretched low return at the forecourt could not cross the net.

Back to her winning side of the court, Sindhu once again started with new exuberance as the duo locked themselves in a battle of supremacy. As a result service changed hands too quickly as they moved together till 6-6.

But Sindhu moved ahead with a couple of powerpacked returns which Sun failed to negotiate. The Chinese also faltered with a lift and also hit wide as Sindhu reached 10-6.

A few errors helped Sun make it 8-10 before Sindhu entered the interval with a 11-8 advantage.

Sindhu continued to extend her lead even as Sun tried to vary the pace of the rallies but her errors continued to pile up as the Indian was soon 19-11 up. Sindhu then grabbed the match point when Sun let go of the shuttle as it kissed the back line and then the Indian pushed the shuttle at the back, leaving the Chinese stranded before letting out a joyous scream.

Saina Nehwal had clinched the China Open in 2014 before finishing runners-up last year.

Sindhu had reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year but the title eluded her then as she lost in straight games to 2012 Olympic champion China’s Li Xuerei.

For Sindhu, it is raining rewards

Sindhu’s fabulous achievement is being claimed as their ‘very own’ as evident by the Telangana government giving Rs. 5 crore, A.P. Rs. 3 crore besides 1,000 square yard house site each.

Pullela Gopichand’s diplomatic reply when asked whether Rio Olympic silver medallist P. V. Sindhu belonged to Andhra or Telangana was typical of his character. “I would like Sindhu to be called as an Indian first. And, let us all celebrate her fabulous achievement and not debate on this,” was his counter to the raging debate on Sindhu’s nativity.

In a way, this also seems to be the theme of the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments which are harping on and getting engaged in a hot race in not only in announcing cash incentives, house sites and jobs but now in hosting civic receptions in a big manner.

No doubt, it is a unique race which could have made even the legendary Usain Bolt sport a big smile! It is pretty apparent that Sindhu’s fabulous achievement is being claimed as their ‘very own’ as evident by the Telangana government giving Rs. 5 crore, A.P. Rs. 3 crore besides 1,000 square yard house site each and to cap it all, a government job. The A.P. government deputed two State Ministers besides a Member of Parliament to receive Sindhu at the airport on Monday morning to make a statement of sorts.

After the grand reception in Hyderabad, Vijayawada is gearing up to accord a rousing welcome to Sindhu onTuesday. She is being flown in a chartered flight from Hyderabad to Gannavaram airport at 8.40 a.m. Member of Parliament Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) will be accompanying her.

Sindhu will be attending a series of programme in Vijayawada in which city elite, including politicians cutting across party ideologies, will take part.

More than 50 vehicles with badminton lovers will be reaching the airport to receive her. From the airport to Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium, school and college students, standing on both sides of the road, will cheer the champion waving the tricolour.

Sindhu, along with coach Gopichand and parents P.V. Ramana and Vijayalakshmi, will proceed to IGMC stadium where she will be presented a cheque for Rs. 3 crore by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. A cheque for Rs. 50 lakh will be presented to Gopichand.

The stadium will also witness the presence of members of the A.P. Olympic Association and badminton fraternity of A.P. Later, the ace shuttler and her parents will take a look at the Command and Control Centre set up for monitoring Krishna pushkaram near the Durga Ghat before taking a holy dip. They will participate in ‘harati’ at Pavithra Sangamam near Ibrahimpatnam where Sindhu will be felicitated by the government.

“She will be presented a 2.5-foot-high statue of Lord Venkateswara made of precious stones and brought specially from Italy,” said P. R. Mohan, chairman of Sports Authority of AP.

Srikanth sets up date with Lin Dan

K. Srikanth played close to his best in defeating Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-19, 21-19 in the men’s badminton pre-quarterfinals at the Riocentro Pavilion on Monday.

The victory earned the Indian a quarterfinal spot against the five-time World Champion Lin Dan of China, who won gold in the Beijing and London Olympics.

“It is good to play Lin Dan in the quarterfinals of the Olympics. I am really hoping to win the match,” said the 23-year-old Srikanth.

Srikanth did beat Dan once, but was quick to point out that it was nearly two years ago and that he would not like to live in the past but stay in the present.

“You have to stop thinking about old memories and start thinking about the present,” said Srikanth, with a smile.

Relentless attack

Though it was a close match, it was a solid performance by Srikanth. He attacked relentlessly right through and was happy that he did not let his opponent — who loves to stay longer on court — a big lead at any stage, except for six points in the second game.

Srikanth was patient in building the points before he went for the kill. He showed perseverance to not let his opponent move out of his reach at any stage of the match.

Srikanth led 8-4 in the second game, but the Dane took it to10-8 in his favour, before Srikanth bounced back from a string of errors, pouncing on every opportunity to finish the rallies.

“If you are competing at this level, you have to be prepared to take your chances,” said Srikanth, who is coached by P. Gopi Chand in Hyderabad.

“I am happy to have handled the big points better. That is the key to matches like this. I have been playing well for nearly a year, even if I have not been winning.

“All that has helped in handling such close matches,” said Srikanth.

His determination was evident in the manner Srikanth punched the air in celebration on winning the match and after taking the initiative in the first game.

Even though he made a string of judgement errors, the Indian said that it was important to play safe and not giving away any easy points.

“If you give away easy points, they can change the game at times,” he said.

Srikanth was also happy to have beaten the Dane, who had won two of their last three matches.

After the pre-quarterfinals in the last two World Championships and the Asian Games, Srikanth has taken a good step forward, and it remains to be seen how well he tackles the ‘rock-star’ of world badminton, Lin Dan, on Wednesday.

Sindhu reaches quarterfinals of Rio Olympics

P.V. Sindhu will next take on the winner of the match between Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.

Two-time World Championship bronze-medallist P.V. Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s singles competition after notching up a dominating straight-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying at the Olympic Games here.

The 21-year-old from Hyderabad outclassed eighth seed Tai 21-13 21-15 in a 40-minute pre-quarterfinals clash. She will next take on the winner of the match between Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.

Sindhu, who has a 2-4 record against Tai Tzu, having beaten her last at the Denmark Open last year, opened up a 3-1 lead early on and even though Tai came back to draw level at 5-5, the Indian managed to lead 11-6 at the break.

Tai depended on her deceptive game to reduce the margin to 10-12 but she was equally erratic with her placements sometimes, while Sindhu showed better presence of mind.

Sindhu won a video referral to reach the game point at 20-13 and then pocketed it comfortably with Tai hitting wide.

After the change of ends, Sindhu once again moved to a 3-1 lead but she erred twice on her backhand returns to give away two points.

Tai tried to take away the pace from the rallies and came up with a few down the line smashes to make it 6-6 after Sindhu dropped her serve.

However, Tai’s inability to rein in her unforced errors saw Sindhu lead 11-6 at the interval.

Tai tried to put pressure on Sindhu but failed to give the finishing touch as Sindhu sailed away to a 14-7 lead.

With Sindhu in full flow, Tai seemed clueless and was not able to play her own game, staying away from the net.

The Chinese Taipei girl found it difficult to control the shuttle and hit long twice to allow Sindhu a lead of 17-11. A couple of drop shots deflected by the net chord took Sindhu to 19-12 before Tai sent one to the net to gift eight match points to Sindhu.

Tai saved three match points before another long shot saw Sindhu seal the issue in her favour.

Earlier, K. Srikanth also reached the quarterfinals of the men’s singles after beating World No. 5 Jan Jorgensen of Denmark in straight games.

Srikanth reaches quarterfinals of men's singles

The 23-year-old Guntur lad, ranked 11th in the world, will next take on two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan

Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles badminton event after defeating World No. 5 Jan Jorgensen of Denmark at the Rio Olympics on Monday.

Coming into the match with a 1-2 head-to-head record, Srikanth dished out an aggressive performance to defeat Jorgensen 21-19 21-19 in a 42-minute battle to keep himself in contention.

The 23-year-old Guntur lad, ranked 11th in the world, will next take on two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan.

In a battle between equals, Jorgensen moved to a 3-1 lead before Srikanth turned the tables reaching 4-3. The duo engaged in a fierce battle of supremacy and moved neck and neck before Srikanth managed to enter the break with an 11-9 advantage.

Srikanth opened up a narrow 17-14 lead at one stage. His sharp returns earned him a lot of points even as the Dane kept breathing down his neck with some angled strokes which the Indian found difficult to negotiate.

At 18-17, an aggressive rally ended with Srikanth placing the shuttle away from Jorgensen but he hit long next before moving into the game point with a cross court smash, which Jorgensen could not reach.

Srikanth carried on the momentum into the second game and dictated the tempo of the fast-paced rallies to reach 8-4 at one stage. The Indian, however, lost a few points with his backhand returns going to the net.

The Denmark shuttler also came up with some spectacular smashes and some brilliant net play to make it 10-9. At the break, Srikanth managed a 11-10 lead after a precise return, which landed just inside the line.

Jorgensen soon started dominating by changing the pace of the rallies too frequently and producing some sharp returns to trouble the Indian and reached 17-14.

But Srikanth soon clawed back with three points before the duo moved to 18-18. The Indian won a parallel rally with Jorgensen going to net and then Srikanth produced a sharp smash to reach the match point. He left the shuttle once again at the baseline before coming up with another smash to seal his place in the quarterfinals.

Rio: Saina Nehwal suffers shock defeat, crashes out of women’s singles event

Loses18-21 19-21 to World No. 61 Maria Ulitina

In one of the biggest upsets for the Indian Olympic contingent, medal hope Saina Nehwal on Sunday crashed out of the women’s singles event after suffering a defeat against Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in her second Group G match.

The London Olympics bronze medallist and world no. 5 lost 18-21 19-21 to World No. 61 Maria in a match that lasted 39 minutes.

The Indian star, a former world no. 1, had won the opening match against Brazil’s Vicente Lohaynny on August 11.

The Ukraine player posed a lot of questions as Saina missed a few shots in the forecourt and back. The Indian, however, managed to enter the short break 11-9 in front with a drop which Maria could not return from the forecourt.

With Saina continuing to be sluggish, Maria reached 19-17 and then reached game point with a cross court round-the-head smash.

The Indian then hit wide to allow Maria earn the bragging rights after clinching the opening game.

In the second game, Maria used her height to good use as she played some sharp and stiff smashes and half smashes which Saina failed to negotiate. The Indian managed to stay ahead with a slender 11-10 lead at the break.

But Maria dominated the pace of the rallies even as Saina seemed restricted in her movement as the Ukraine player led 14-13.

The script didn’t change much after that as Maria managed to reach match point with a cross court smash and then entered the knockout pre-quarter final round with a lucky net chord.

After a shocking group league exit from the Rio Olympics, Saina Nehwal cited an inflammation in her right knee as the reason which hampered her on—court movement.

World No 5 lost her second group league encounter 18—21, 19—21 to World No 61 Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina to crash out of the competition.

“I had a knee pain and could not give my best. It was heavily strapped, and I tried my best. My movements were not smooth and were painful. It’s heartbreaking loss. I also feel very bad about it,” Saina said.

The injury according to her happened during training before the Olympics and it got worse during the match.

“It happened just before the Olympics about one and half weeks back. It happened during training and got aggravated after coming here,” she said.

Saina agreed that she was not able to move well but credited her opponent for playing well.

“She played better but I was not able to move on the court. I tried for improvement but was not successful.”