PV Sindhu delighted to win China Open after all the 'distractions' in the form of felicitations for her Rio silver medal; 21-year-old also became the third non-Chinese woman to win the title
PV Sindhu with the trophy. Pics/AFP
Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu defeated local favourite Sun Yu 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 in an hour and nine minutes to win the $700,000 China Open, which is also her first Super Series title. Yesterday, the 21-year-old also became the third non-Chinese woman to win the title after Malaysia's Wong Mew Cho (2007) and former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal (2014).
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"I was busy attending functions after the Rio Olympics, but still managed to workout as per my coach P Gopichand sir's instruction. People thought that I would take a while before I performed, but I kept on working hard simultaneously," Sindhu told mid-day yesterday from China. Sindhu missed out on her maiden Super Series title last year when she was defeated by Li Xuerui of China in the final in Denmark on October 18, 2015. "It has been my dream to win a Super Series title. I am glad I finally managed to do that," said the World No. 11.
Talking about yesterday's final where she had a 2-3 head-to-head record against the Chinese shuttler, Sindhu said, "I was playing against her after two and a half years. Like me, she is tall, and loves to play an attacking game. I won the first game comfortably. In the second, when we were tied 14-14, I was a bit in a hurry to finish the game and when I smashed, it went to the net. She took it from there and won it 21-17."
India's PV Sindhu celebrates after beating Sun Yu of China in the final of the China Open in Fuzhou yesterday
"In the third game, I made her run and waited for an opportunity to go for the kill. That worked in my favour and I won the match," she added. In the process Sindhu also emulated Nehwal who won the Super Series title defeating Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in 2014. "I am really happy to follow a great player," she said.
Yesterday's win could see push Sindhu to the top eight spot in the world rankings and a chance to qualify for the December 14 to 18 World Super Series Finals in Dubai. On her chances of playing the Super Series Finals she said, "It depends on my performance in the Hong Kong Super Series (November 22-27). I will give off my best whenever and wherever I play," she promised.
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