CWG 2022: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen clinch maiden gold; wishes pour in as India sweeps singles competition

India swept the singles badminton competition at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday, as superstar P V Sindhu and rising star Lakshya Sen lived up to the hype by winning gold medals.

Sindhu, an icon of Indian sport, defeated Michelle Li of Canada in a comfortable straight-game victory to add a CWG gold to her impressive collection. In front of a large crowd at the NEC arena, the seventh-ranked player in the world from India defeated her 13th-ranked opponent 21-15, 21-13.

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Later in the day, Sen, ranked tenth, made a comeback to end Ng Tze Yong's streak of victories over giants. The 20-year-old from Malaysia upset the 42nd-ranked player in the world 19-21, 21-9, 21-16. 

Sen trailed for the whole of the first game but maintained a close distance from the Malaysian, who had defeated both Kidambi Srikanth and world champion Yew Kean Loh in his previous two encounters.

Sen made it 19-18 from 16-19 before Yong produced back-to-back forehand winners to gain a game point. Sen misjudged a baseline call after a gruelling rally to hand the advantage to Yong. The second game was one-way traffic after Sen led 11-9 at the interval. The Indian took 12 points in a row post the break to level the final. Yong made a slew of unforced errors, and it seemed he wanted to preserve energy for the third game. 

Sen was at his attacking best in the decider and led until the end. Yong tried his best to mount a comeback, but Sen was unstoppable. He converted his first match point following a long rally, leading to a frenzied celebration that saw him throw his racket into the stands. 

"It was tense in the start, I had to work really hard. Yong also played a great tournament. Congratulations to him as well," said Sen after a hard-fought contest. 

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Michelle, 30, needed to perform exceptionally in order to defeat Sindhu for the first time in eight years, but the Indian did not give her a chance. Sindhu was proficient in the short game and seized each opportunity for attack. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, Michelle defeated the 2019 world champion.

In the opening game, Sindhu was the more aggressive player, while Michelle tried to score by playing close to the net. The Canadian struck back with a drop shot on Sindhu's right to make it 7-6, after a smash on Li's left made it 7-5. After the break, Sindhu scored three points in a row to increase her advantage to 14-8.

She grinned in annoyance as Michelle then netted a legal forehand drop. Michelle did produce two backhand winners in a row for a score of 14-17, but Sindhu won the opening game with a swat stroke to the Canadian's body.

With a superb retrieval off her body in the second, the Hyderabadi took the lead 4-2 and led 11-6 at the half. The spectators anticipated a comeback from Michelle, who then used a forehand winner to end the longest rally of the contest.

Sindhu, however, shut the door on her and completed a fine win with a cross-court winner. "I had been waiting for this gold for a long time, and finally, I have got it. I am super happy. Thanks to the crowd, they made me win today," said Sindhu after the final.

Congratulatory messages poured in for both the sporting stars across social media platforms. Here's a look at some of the reactions on Twitter:

(With inputs from PTI)