It’s another defeat for Indian badminton star PV Sindhu in the finals this year. Playing the 2018 BWF World Championships in Nanjing, China, the 23-year-old lost to Carolina Marin of Spain. Despite starting the final match strongly, leading 14-11 in the first game at one stage, the Hyderabadi shuttler went down in straight games 19-21, 10-21. Carolina Marina now leads 7-6 in her head-to-head record against the Indian player. With this defeat, Sindhu had to settle for a second straight silver medal at BWF World Championships, previously losing to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in 2017. In fact, this year, PV Sindhu had to be content with runners-up finish in as many as four finals including the World Badminton Championships at Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Sports Park Arena in Nanjing, China. Sindhu has lost India Open, Thailand Open and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Here’s a detailed look at the match scoreline of finals conceded by PV Sindhu. 2018 BWF World Championships Final Video Highlights: PV Sindhu Loses to Carolina Marin, Clinches a Silver Medal.
1. PV Sindhu Loses to American Beiwen Zhang in India Open 2018
Sindhu was the defending champion as well as the top seed at 2018 India Open held between 30 January – 4 February Siri Fort Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. She had another smooth run in the tournament where PV Sindhu thrashed former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semi-finals. But in the championships match, Sindhu faced a shocking defeat at the hands of the fifth seed Zhang Beiwen of America. It was a marathon final 18-21 21-11 20-22 with Sindhu narrowly missing out on clinching the medal.
2. PV Sindhu Loses to Saina Nehwal in 2018 Commonwealth Games
It was a mouth-watering all-Indian clash at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu aiming to bag women’s singles gold. Sindhu started off the match as a favourite against her a more experienced counterpart, which ultimately helped the latter win the game. Saina displayed a powerful and commanding form to clinch a 21-18, 23-21 victory in the final. Sindhu had to settle for the silver medal.
3. PV Sindhu Loses to Nozomi Okuhara in 2018 Thailand Open
Former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan who had defeated Sindhu in last year’s Badminton World Championships final thrashed the Indian player in Thailand Open held in July 2018. It was a straight games 15-21, 18-21 win for the World No. 6 in the summit clash of the USD 350,000 Thailand Open World Tour Super 500 badminton tournament.
4. PV Sindhu Loses to Carolina Marin in 2018 BWF World Championships
Sindhu’s nemesis continues to be a roadblock in Sindhu’s aim for world championships gold. Marin from Spain had defeated the young Indian player at 2016 Rio Olympics gold medal match and once again she proved to be a tough nut to crack in the 2018 BWF World Championships. Carolina was highly dominant and the lapse in concentration from Sindhu in the first set only helped the former world number win the championship point sooner than later.
While it may sadden us a bit to see PV Sindhu lose four gold medal opportunity, but one must not forget to see her constantly reach the finals riding on her consistent game. At a young age of 23, PV Sindhu has already several achievements against her name – a silver medal in Olympics, a silver and bronze singles medal in Commonwealth Games, a bronze medal in Asian Games and two silver medals in world badminton championships. It is only a matter of time, PV Sindhu will start converting the silvers into golds.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 05, 2018 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).