PV Sindhu lights up final day with gold in badminton singles

India’s badminton ace PV Sindhu won her maiden singles gold at the Commonwealth Games defeating Michelle Li of Canada 21-15, 21-13 on the last day of the quadrennial event in Birmingham on Monday.

The 27-year-old two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, who was unsuccessful in the previous two attempts, settling for silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Games, finally broke the jinx with a commanding performance against an opponent ranked 13th in the world.

While world No. 7 Sindhu held the edge going into the title clash, a win was not a foregone conclusion given that her opponent was a former singles gold medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Before the clash on Monday, Sindhu held an advantage over the Canadian having won eight of the 10 matches. In fact, Sindhu had played Li twice this year and defeated her on both occasions.

The opening game was keenly contested with the scores level at 4-4. Using her height and penetrating smashes to great effect, Sindhu took a 14-8, finally winning the opening game 21-15.

Sindhu won the second game with relative ease, taking an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval. With Li continuing to find the net on returns, Sindhu made it 19-13. The Indian won the championship point and the gold as Li sent a return wide after a good rally.