World Badminton Championship: PV Sindhu claims silver after gruelling, epic final

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu had to settle for silver after losing 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a hard-fought final of the World Badminton Championships at Glasgow in Scotland on Sunday.

Rio Olympics silver-medallist Sindhu finished her semifinal at around 2:30am on Sunday morning and she was again back on the court after 17 hours for the final. Both the players exhibited their extreme levels of fitness despite being drained out during the entire final due to long rallies and sheer power game.

This was the longest match of the World Championships, which lasted for 110 minutes.

This was Sindhu's first final appearance in the World Championship and thus her best ever performance. This was a third medal for Sindhu at Worlds, having won bronze twice in 2013 and 2014 after losing at the semifinal stage in both the editions.

It was also India's best-ever show in a World Championship as the country now has two medals for the first time. Saina Nehwal had won a bronze medal on Saturday after losing her semifinal.

Okuhara took the first point of the match on a fine line judgement while Sindhu bagged two successive points to take 2-1 lead. Both the players exchanged points on their serves to keep their grip on the game. Trailing 3-5, Sindhu got her act together and won eight back-to-back points to go into the break with a 11-5 lead.

After changing the sides, Okuhara picked up two straight points to reduce the gap to 7-11. The attacking Okuhara soon made it 10-13 after clinching a point on a hard fought 39-shot rally. Sindhu kept her claim against Okuhara but faltered at crucial junctures. Okuhara levelled the scores at 14-all and then took four-point lead to make it 18-14.

The lanky Indian came out with lot of unforced errors specially after putting up all her effort in the big rallies. Okuhara made few unforced errors too as Sindhu fought back to make it 18-18 in the first game. At 19-19, Sindhu played it on the net to give her opponent a game point and then played it wide of the court to lose the first game 19-21.

The fourth seed Sindhu was totally a changed player in the second game as she took an early 5-1 lead. But a fighting Okuhara clinched five straight points to reduce the deficit by one point 8-9. Sindhu went into the break with 11-8 lead. Both Sindhu and Okuhara were neck and neck at 12-all post the break in the second game.

Okuhara took the lead (13-12) for the first time in the second game. But the gritty Sindhu bounced back to win four crucial points and led 16-13. The agile Okuhara was at her fighting best as she kept chasing Sindhu at 17-18. But soon the seventh seed Japanese made an error at the net to give Sindhu 19-17 lead. Sindhu made it 20-17 while Okuhara dished out her best game to make it 20-20. Sindhu held her nerve to grab two crucial points and forced the match into the decider, after winning a 73-shot rally on the final point, with a nerve-wrecking 22-20 win in the second game.

Both the shuttlers played their heart out in the middle and exhibited some extraordinary skills of the game on the court. The series of powerful smashes combined with fine drop shots and great play at the net were a treat for the eyes of fans who were witnessing them live in the arena as well as on the television.

Okuhara opened the third and title-deciding game with a 5-1 lead but Sindhu's never-say-die attitude came to the fore as she instantly levelled, winning four successive points, terms with a 5-5 score. Both of them exchanged points in the final game as Sindhu went into the break with a 11-9 lead.

The mentally tough Okuhara made it 11-11 after changing the ends. The rallies were extremely big and tiring as it made both the players physically drained out in the decider. Sindhu also got warning for misconduct for not turning up on the court in time.
Sindhu took the crucial lead at 18-17 and extended it to 19-17 in quick time. Okuhara fought back hard to make it 19-19. Unforced error from Sindhu, who played it on the net, gave Okuhara first Championship point. Sindhu kept her nerves and mind in control as she drew level at 20-20.

But again the same error from Sindhu gave Okuhara second Championship point and she didn't make the mistake this time and won the championship by sealing the final game 22-20 in her favour.