Badminton: PV Sindhu beats Sun Yu to win maiden China Open title
This is the third time an Indian shuttler has won the tournament, after Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Shrikant.
PV Sindhu beat China’s Sun Yu 21-11 17-21 21-11 to become only the third Indian after Kidambi Shrikant and Saina Nehwal to land the China Open title.
It was one-way traffic in the first game as Sindhu dominated, racing to a healthy lead early in the game. Sun Yu fought back but it was too late to mount a comeback as Sindhu walked away with the first game 21-11.
Sun Yu found her rhythm in the second game. Sindhu took the lead but her opponent got six straight points through a combination of strong baseline hits and body smashes. Sun Yu dropped only a solitary point during this phase and clinched the second game 21-17.
Fatigue was taking a toll on both players and there were plenty of misplaced shots, but Sindhu managed to hold on to the lead. After a timeout in the final game, Sindhu picked up eight points while dropping just one to comprehensively win the third set too.