Saina Nehwal Beats PV Sindhu To Win 2017 National Championship

Mangalore Today News Network

Nagpur, Nov 09, 2017 : India’s two best women’s badminton players took the court for the final of the Senior National Championship in Nagpur and Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu both delivered the classic their fans had been waiting for.

 

Saina, who is currently ranked World No. 11 took an early lead and won the first game against World No 2 and top seed PV Sindhu 21-17.

While she was trailing the second game by four points at the midway mark, Saina made a strong comeback to hit the 20-point mark first. From there it was a neck and neck competition between the two players and Saina eventually got the better of Sindhu.

The final scoreline read 21-17, 27-25.

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, who are employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), have met twice in international competitions. Their first meeting was at the 2014 Syed Modi International before they played each other in India Super Series this year.

While Saina prevailed in 2014, Sindhu had the last laugh in Delhi.

A lot has happened between those two battles with Saina becoming the World No 1 in 2015, while Sindhu rising to the pinnacle of world badminton after clinching the silver at Rio Olympics.

Saina, who had won the bronze at London Games, had suffered a career-threatening knee injury to crash out early from the Rio Games and spent the next few months recovering and scripting her way back to the top.

Sindhu, meanwhile, scaled new heights in international badminton after winning the 2016 China Open, India Open and Korea Open this year, besides winning the silver at the Glasgow World Championship.

Saina, 27, who had won the silver in 2015 World Championship, bagged a bronze at the Glasgow edition to show that she was getting back to her best.


courtesy: Yahoo