Indian shuttler thrashes Li Michelle 21-15, 21-12 in the final of Grand Prix Gold event
Indian shuttler PV Sindhu won the women’s singles title at the $1,20,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold tournament defeating Canada’s seventh seed Li Michelle in the final yesterday.
PV Sindhu stands on the podium after winning the Macau Open
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The World No 11 won 21-15, 21-12 in 37 minutes in their first ever encounter at the Macau Forum to clinch her second Grand Prix Gold title. Sindhu had also won the Malaysia Open in May.
The Hyderabadi led the first game right from the start, bagging the first seven points in no time. Though Li tried closing down the gap (9-6), the World Championship bronze medallist proved too good for her World No 30 opponent and raced away to win the first game in 16 minutes.
Sindhu used her height to her advantage, notching up more winners at the net than her opponent while several other points came as she forced the Chinese to commit errors.
PV Sindhu in action during the Badminton World Championships in August 2013. Pic/Getty Images
The second game was a neck-and-neck battle till 6-all, but from there on the Indian won eight straight points to open up a huge gap. Li tried fighting back but it proved futile as Sindhu sealed the game and match on her first championship point to take home a cheque of USD 9,000.
“I was confident going into the final after I defeated the Chinese player and knew that if I did not make mistakes, I can win the title,” Sindhu said, adding that she was extremely happy to end the year on a high.
Gamble pays off
Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand said they had pulled Sindhu out of the China Open to put in a month-long training regimen and the plan worked out well. “We worked extensively on speed and aggression at the academy during the preparation for the tournament and she executed it well in Macau,” he said.
Steady rise
It has been a steady rise for Sindhu this year as she achieved quite a few firsts. Apart from winning her first Tier-III title in Malaysia, she also entered broke into the top-10 in the world rankings in August. To add to that, the Arjuna Awardee also won India’s first ever women’s singles medal (bronze) at the World Championships in August.
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