Badminton world championships final, as it happened: Zippy Marin thrashes Sindhu 21-19, 21-10
The two shuttlers have met 12 times on the international circuit, including juniors, and have shared the spoils 6-6.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin outpaced and outclassed PV Sindhu in the final of the 2018 badminton world championships, beating the Indian 21-19, 21-10 in Nanjing, China, on Sunday. This is the Spaniard’s third Worlds title.
3.10 pm: Here is the match report of Marin’s total domination of Sindhu. That’s it from us here. Join us again soon for more badminton live updates during the Asian Games.
2.49 pm: Here are all the women’s singles medallists in Nanjing:
Gold: Carolina Marin (Spain)
Silver: PV Sindhu (India)
Bronze: He Bingjiao (China), Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)
2.47 pm: Marin gets a bit emotional as the Spanish national anthem is played in Nanjing.
2.37 pm: Apart from the European championships, Carolina Marin failed to get past the semi-finals of all other tournaments she played in 2018. Today, she has won her third world championship title. Turnaround.
2.35 pm: She’s done it! Carolina Marin beats PV Sindhu 21-19, 21-10 to win her third world championship title! Wow! What a player!
2.32 pm: It’s 19-7 now to Marin. She is two points away from winning her third world championship title.
2.29 pm: Marin lets out a LOUD shriek as she stretches her advantage to 10 points in the second game. It’s 14-4 to the Spaniard and the door is almost shut on Sindhu for a fightback.
2.25 pm: Marin takes a substantial 11-2 lead into the interval of the second game. Is there any way back for Sindhu from here? Looks unlikely. Marin is all over her like a rash.
2.22 pm: And now it is Marin’s turn to delay Sindhu’s serve! The umpire has had enough and warns both of them that they will get yellow cards if this continues. Meanwhile, Marin continues to hold a sizeable lead in the second game. It’s 8-2 right now.
2.19 pm: Marin zips away to a 5-0 lead in the second game. She is all pumped up and looks confident of winning this match. Sindhu needs to think of something quickly.
2.18 pm: What do you think Gopichand is telling Sindhu in the break?
2.13 pm: Marin gets herself two game-point opportunities at 20-18; Sindhu saves one of them but only just. However, she can’t save the second one as Marin wins the game 21-19 in 25 minutes. The Spaniard was 9-14 down at one stage but she seems to have upset Sindhu’s rhythm by rushing her.
2.12 pm: The umpire warns Sindhu that she will get a yellow card if she delays receiving the serve once more. Marin’s ploy seems to be working, as she takes a 19-18 lead in the first game.
2.11 pm: 15-15 becomes 18-18. This game is becoming too tight to call now, after Sindhu let go of a five-point lead at one stage.
2.08 pm: Sindhu forces Marin to re-serve for the fourth time! But Marin has brought the scores level at 15-15, winning six of the last seven points!
2.04 pm: For the third time in this game, Sindhu is not ready for Marin’s serve and the Spaniard goes to the umpire and says, “She has to be ready. She is delaying the game. You have to tell her.” Sindhu just smiles. The mind games are on! It’s 14-9 to Sindhu.
2 pm: PV Sindhu retakes a three-point lead heading into the first interval. It’s 11-8 to the world No 3 in the first game. Marin is making a bit too many mistakes but is still dictating the pace of play.
1.58 pm: Despite trailing, Marin is trying to rush Sindhu by being extremely quick between points, but the Indian is trying not to be frazzled. Marin recovers a couple of points to close down the gap to 9-8 to the Indian.
1.56 pm: A couple of unforced errors from Marin allows Sindhu to extend her lead in the first game. It’s 8-5 to the Indian right now.
1.53 pm: We’re up and away, and it’s already shaping up to be a tight contest! A couple of long rallies early in the first game have been won by Sindhu, who looks solid, and holds a narrow 4-3 lead.
1.46 pm: The two players are on court and we are moments away from the start of what should be a classic! Grab your popcorn and sodas!
1.44 pm: Here is the road to the women’s singles final:
1.40 pm: Sindhu and Marin are adding some variety to the world championships finals line-up, which is dominated by the Chinese and Japanese:
1.29 pm: Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong have just beaten Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping in an all-Chinese mixed doubles final 21-17, 21-19. This means we are just a few moments away from Sindhu vs Marin.
1.25 pm: Sindhu has received quite a few good-luck wishes on Twitter from her compatriots:
1.15 pm: If you missed PV Sindhu’s total domination of world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals on Saturday, Abhijeet Kulkarni has got you covered here.
1 pm: Eleventh seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan have beaten their higher-ranked compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Horota, seeded second, in a thrilling women’s doubles final that lasted an hour and 35 minutes. Matsumoto/Nagahara won the match 19-21, 21-19, 22-20. You can watch the highlights here:
Good afternoon and welcome to the The Field’s live blog of the BWF world championships women’s singles final, where India’s PV Sindhu is set to take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin in Nanjing, China, on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Indian dominated her Japanese nemeses Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals and semi-finals but Marin will be a completely different challenge. Here’s what Sindhu should be looking to do in order to overcome one of the fastest shuttlers there is in the world today.
Sindhu and Marin have met each other 12 times previously in the international circuit and have shared the spoils 6-6. Since that epic Rio Olympics final two years ago, their last four meetings have ended in straight games. But given the form both are in at the world championships, Sunday’s final is likely to be another classic.