What's the story?
Among the flood of congratulatory messages that Indian shuttler PV Sindhu received following her Indian Open 2017 victory, there was one from a very famous sportsperson, who had given the country countless such moments of euphoria through his performances.
The Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar wished the Rio Olympic silver medallist on Twitter immediately after she upset the Olympic and two-time world champion Carolina Marin, 21-19, 21-16 to capture her maiden title at this tournament.
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The maestro heaped lavish praise on the 21-year-old Pullela Gopichand protege, calling her a 'true winner all the way.'
In case you didn't know...
Sindhu has won both the international BWF events staged at home this year. She started the 2017 season with the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold title in January and this India Open Superseries is her second title of the season. She is now on a 10-match winning streak in India.
The heart of the matter
After their Olympic final showdown in August, Sindhu did meet the Spaniard once in between at the Dubai World Superseries Finals in December where the Indian prevailed over the southpaw in straight games.
Today’s match pretty much followed that route with the Indian taking control of the proceedings from early on. Marin did manage to stage a comeback in the first game and led 19-18 but Sindhu was quick to win three points on the trot and pocket the first game, 21-19.
In the second game, she never relinquished her lead and kept on widening the gap between herself and the World No. 3. The third seed managed to keep her composure intact and sealed the stunning win over the top seed in 47 minutes.
What's next?
Sindhu will not get a lot of time to celebrate her big win for her next tournament – the Malaysia Open Superseries – is coming up the very next week. The India Open champion is seeded sixth at that tournament and starts her campaign against China's World No. 13 Chen Yufei.
Author's take
There cannot be anything more inspiring than watching a homegrown player beating the Olympic champion to win the country's biggest international badminton tournament. Sindhu's win today will definitely motivate many kids to follow in her footsteps and bring laurels for the country just like she is doing.
Also Read: PV Sindhu set to attain career high world number 2 ranking after India Open win
