Champion vs Champion: Showdown between PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in National Championship finals
- For the first time PV Sindhu will face off against Saina Nehwal in the history of Senior National Badminton Championships
- They will be competing for supremacy in the women’s singles final of the Senior Badminton National Championship at Nagpur
- "I will have to play better than today to win the final against Saina," said Sindhu
FollowThe dream final in badminton world is finally here. For the first time PV Sindhu will face off against Saina Nehwal in the history of Senior National Badminton Championships.
They will be competing for supremacy in the women’s singles final of the Senior Badminton National Championship at Nagpur on Tuesday, November 8.
But both women had strikingly different semi final victories.
Saina, currently ranked World No 11, sailed through her match against fifth seed Anura Prabhudesai 21-11, 21 -10.
On the other hand, Sindhu suffered a scare when she lost the first game against G Ruthvika Shivani. Shivani had taken a seven point lead in the first game.
Shivani had defeated Sindhu once before, in the final of the SAFF Games a couple of years ago.
Shivani wanted to keep the momentum going, but the world No 2 had other plans. She involved Shivani in long rallies which made her tired.
Sindhu claimed the second game 21-15.
The third game was completely dominated by Sindhu and Shivani lost 21-11, giving the victory away.
"Ruthvika played very well, probably the best she could do. After losing the first game, I have to change the plans and played long rallies which proved useful for me. Once I saw she was tired, I knew I can dictate the terms in the later stages of the match," said Sindhu to the media after the game.
Saina hasn’t competed at the Senior Nationals since winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, while Sindhu too gave the domestic tournament a miss after winning the 2011 and 2013 editions.
The two have faced each other in international competitions though. Their first meeting was at the 2014 Syed Modi International where Saina had the upper hand. They played each other in India Super Series this year which Sindhu won.
On the big final against Saina, Sindhu said, "It will be a very good match. Everybody here is waiting for us to enter the final. I will have to play better than today to win the final against Saina. It will be for the first time we are playing against each other in the Nationals."
