What’s the story?
Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu paid back her Spanish rival, Carolina Marin, in kind by defeating her in the finals of the India Open Super Series held in New Delhi. A memorable win over an old foe was made all the sweeter as this win means Sindhu is set to attain a career-high second in the BWF World Rankings, leapfrogging Marin in the process.
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In case you didn’t know…
The Indian Open Super Series final was played between Sindhu and Marin, who had bettered the Indian at the Olympics to win gold. The final was an ideal opportunity for Sindhu to extract some kind of revenge in front of her home crowd.
In a pulsating final, Sindhu defeated her higher ranked Spanish opponent in straight sets by a score of 21-19 and 21-16 which will result in a jump in Sindhu’s world rankings.
The heart of the matter
The BWF world rankings work on a points system where the same are awarded as per the progress made by players in tournaments. In a Super Series, the winner of the tournament receives 9200 points while the runner-up takes 7800 points. Meanwhile, points are also deducted based on the results from the past 52 weeks.
Before the Indian Super Series, Sindhu, ranked 5th, had a points tally of 71,599 while her Spanish rival had 73,814 points at the third position.
The win will see the Indian leapfrog her rival while Marin will remain third. This will be a career high for Sindhu as this is the first time she will reach the second spot in the rankings.
What’s next?
Before the match, Sindhu’s win/loss ratio versus the Spaniard stood at 3-5 but the record now stands at 4-5 and with the Singapore Open looming on the horizon, P.V Sindhu might just get the chance to set the record even.
Author’s Take
Sindhu proving her mettle and winning the Open against a rival who has often had the upper hand against her shows how much she has grown since her defeat at Rio 2016. Defeating the third-ranked player in world badminton is no mean feat and achieving a career-high ranking just makes it better for the entire country.
