Chennai: Bringing immense pride to the country, P V Sindhu on Sunday became the first Indian to win badminton World Championships gold by beating familiar rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a lop-sided final in Basel. She won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.
Two years after being robbed of the gold by Okuhara in an epic 110-minute final at Glasgow that went down as one of the greatest battles in badminton history, Sindhu finally exorcised the ghost of that heart-wrenching loss with a completely dominating win over the same opponent.
It was Sindhuâs fifth World Championships medal – joint most for a woman singles player with former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China – to go with the two successive silvers and a couple of bronze medals. Sindhu has also won an Olympic silver in 2016 Rio Games, a silver at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, an Asian Games silver at Jakarta and the BWF World Tour Finals last year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed PV Sindhu for winning gold at the BWF World Championship, saying her dedication is inspiring. “The stupendously talented @Pvsindhu1 makes India proud again! Congratulations to her for winning the Gold at the BWF World Championships,” he tweeted.
The passion and dedication with which sheâs pursued badminton is inspiring, he said. “PV Sindhuâs success will inspire generations of players,” he added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated shuttler PV Sindhu for becoming the first Indian to win the BWF World Championships. Mamata said Sindhuâs feat will make every Indian proud.
“Congratulations to @Pvsindhu1 on becoming the first Indian to win the #BWFWorldChampionships. You make every Indian proud. Keep winning,” she tweeted. Along with various other leaders and sportspersons, citizens of the country too congratulate Sindhu on her great achievement and wish her win many laurels in her journey.