World No. 5 shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and became the first Indian to be the ‘World Champion’.
Sindhu beat Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in 38 minutes to lift the women’s singles title at BWF World Championships in Basel, Switzerland. This comes after Sindhu had lost the title to Okuhara back in 2017 in the longest final in the tournament’s history. Sindhu won her 5th World Championship medal after beating World No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying in quarter-finals and World No. 3 Chen Yu Fei in the semi-final.
It was Sindhu’s fifth World Championships medal — joint-most for a woman singles player with former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China — to go with the two successive silvers and a couple of bronze medals.
“Last time, I lost in the final, before that also I lost in the final, so it is a very important win for me. I want to thank the crowd for supporting me. I won it for my country and I am very proud being an Indian,” said Sindhu.
“A big thanks to my coach Kim and Gopi sir and my supporting staff and I dedicate this win to my mom, it’s her birthday today,” she added.
