Olympic Silver Medalist PV Sindhu defeated Japan ‘s Nozomi Okuhara in the summit clash on December 16, to become first Indian shuttler in winning gold at the year ending BWF tournament, reported The Indian Express.  Falling short of gold, Sindhu had reached the finale of a tournament seven times and settled with a silver since September 2017.

Fighting against all odds

With winning the title against the former champion with 21-19, 21-17 set, puts the young player in top 8 ranked players in the world. Previously Sindhu had lost twice in the final of the world championship and was runner’s up in last season.

According to The Times of India, Sindhu has had a rough phase this year, despite being in top form. She lost most of the finals of the tournament like Rio Olympics, Commonwealth games and Jakarta Asian Games and had to settle for silver in last two consecutive years. However, she says that now, after this win, she is really happy and has no words to describe the feeling. Responding to her critics who undermined her ability to win finals, she said, “Somewhere every time people have been asking me the same question. I hope the question won’t again come to me, asking why all the time coming to the finals I lose. I think I can say now that I won a gold and I am really very proud,” as reported by Firstpost.

But in this finals, Sindhu’s never-say-die-attitude helped her to beat familiar foe Nozomi Okhura of Japan. She entered the finals of BWF World Tour Finals after waging battle against  Thai champion Ratchanok Intanon with 21-16, 25-23 in 54 minutes to reach the finals in Guangzhou, China.

Remains unbeaten in the tournament

After her semifinals, she disclosed that, regarding her growth in badminton career, has improved in the mental aspect of the sport and no longer want to lose those crucial points. Speaking to India Today, she said, “I had improved a bit [in mental fortitude] because sometimes, a couple of times before if I was leading and say she would fight back and take the lead, I would get nervous but now I have been comparatively much stronger. I think it’s okay, she has taken a good point and why not just appreciate it and focus on the next point rather than thinking what and why did it go wrong. In that case, I tend to think and lose crucial points.” World number six champion remained unbeaten in the tournament and won all three of her group games.

Also Read: PV Sindhu: Consistency Is The Key For This Class Act!