PV Sindhu becomes first Indian shuttler to reach final at Olympics, World Championships and Superseries Finals

What's the story?

PV Sindhu ended the 2017 season with a runners-up finish at the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals as she was defeated by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi on Sunday in a nail-biting final that went right down to the wire.

With her finish at the season-ending championships, she entered the record books as she became the first Indian shuttler in history to reach the finals of the Olympic Games, World Championships and Superseries finals.

As a result, she is now placed ahead of compatriot Saina Nehwal, who has World Championship and Super Series Masters Finals silver medals to her name.

In case you didn't know

Sindhu and Yamaguchi played out a 94-minute classic in the final on Sunday that ended 21-15, 12-21, 19-21 in favour of the World No. 2. Despite winning the first game, the Indian could not make her early advantage count as Yamaguchi produced an excellent display to take home the trophy.

The heart of the matter

The three finals have come in succession for Sindhu, who has had a tremendous year-and-a-half that saw her rise to as high as No. 2 in the world rankings. Incidentally, all three of those matches ended in narrow defeats for her after going the distance.

In the final at the Olympics in Rio last year, Sindhu lost out to Spaniard Carolina Marin after winning the first game 19-21, 21-12, 21-15.

At the World Championships final earlier this year, she played out the longest match in the history of the competition against Nozomi Okuhara that lasted 110 minutes and ended 21-19, 20-22, 22-20.

What's next?

With the season now over, Sindhu will be seen in action next at the Premier Badminton League that begins on December 23.

Author's take

Sindhu has enjoyed a phenomenal run in 2017 and this record is a testament to her incredible success. Here's hoping she does even better next year!