China seems to be a happy hunting ground for India’s P.V. Sindhu as she put a series of disappointments at the last hurdle to land the women’s singles title in the season-ending USD1.5 million HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China on Sunday.
The 23-year-old lanky Indian battled for 62 minutes to subdue second seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight games 21-19, 21-17 to gain revenge over the Japanese who beat her 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 for the world title in Glasgow in 2017. The energy sapping final in Glasgow lasted a marathon 110 minutes.
This is her second title in China after winning the China Open in 2016 where she beat home favorite Sun Yu 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 in the final.
Sindhu had gone seven finals which ended with heartbreaking defeats for the Indian. However, on Sunday, at the Tianhe Gymnasium it was Sindhu’s show to become the first Indian to win the World Tour Final.
“I have finally put to rest the perennial question of why I always lose in the finals. Now that I have won I hope to change things for the better in the new season,” said Sindhu who was playing in her third successive season-ending final.
Last year she was beaten by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 12-21, 19-21 in the final in Dubai.
Among the tournaments where Sindhu played bridesmaid this year were the World Championships in Nanjing where she was beaten 19-21, 10-21 by Spain’s Carolina Marin.
Sindhu also lost the Asian Games final to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 13-21, 16-21 apart from losing to compatriot Saina Nehwal in the Commonwealth Games final in Gold Coast.
En-route to the title in Guangzhou the Indian defeated world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon.
In the men’s singles final China’s world No 2 Shi Yuqi turned the tables on Japan’s world champion and current world No 1 Kento Momota with straight games 21-12, 21-11 win in 49 minutes.
In the process, the 22-year-old Yuqi, the reigning All-England and India Open champion, gained revenge for his 11-21, 13-21 defeat to the Japanese in the World Championships final in Nanjing in August. Momota leads the head-to-head count 3-1 in four meetings.
China also walked with the mixed doubles and men’s doubles titles through Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping and Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen respectively.
In the mixed doubles final Yilyu-Dongping upset Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong 23-21, 16-21, 21-18 while Junhui-Yuchen had a rather easy 21-15, 21-11 win over Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe for the men’s doubles title.
Japan’s Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi outplayed Koreans Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan 21-12, 22-20 for the women’s crown. Badminton Asia
RESULTS (ALL FINALS)
Women’s singles
P.V. Sindhu (Ind) beat Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-19, 21-17
Mixed doubles
Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) beat Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) 23-21, 16-21, 21-18
Men’s singles
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat Kento Momota (Jpn) 21-12, 21-11
Women’s doubles
Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) beat Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) 21-12. 22-20
Men’s doubles
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11
