PV Sindhu reaches first World Badminton Championships final, Saina settles for bronze

PV Sindhu became the first Indian player to have reached both the Olympics and World Badminton Championship final She destroyed China’s Chen Yufei in the semi-finals of World Badminton Championships in Glasgow to enter the finals Saina Nehwal settled for a bronze medal as her impressive run came to an end after losing to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan

On Saturday, August 26, PV Sindhu became the first Indian player to have reached both the Olympics and World Badminton Championship final.

The Hyderabad girl completed a dominating 21-13 21-10 win over China’s Chen Yufei in the semi-finals of World Badminton Championships in Glasgow to enter the finals.

She destroyed the Chinese in the second game to avenge her loss from the Malaysia Open earlier this year.

Saina Nehwal settled for a bronze medal as her impressive run at the World Championship came to an end after a heart-breaking loss against Rio Olympics bronze medallist Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the women’s singles semifinals.

Nehwal, who had won a silver medal two years ago at Jakarta, gave everything in a battle of attrition but Okuhara’s never-say-die attitude helped her to outmanoeuvre the Indian in an energy-sapping semifinal clash at the Emirates Arena. 

It took Sindhu 22 minutes to wrap up the first game against Chen who had looked out of sorts by the time the first game finished, reported the Indian Express.

Sindhu will now face the world No 12 Okuhara who is capable of playing for long durations without letting up.

“It was disappointing to have lost the match despite being a game up. But overall I am happy that I made it to the semis after recently coming out of an injury. I gave it my best and I am pleased with that,” Nehwal said after the match. “Okuhara started winning long rallies after the first game and that was the main reason for her to make a comeback into the match,” she added.