India’s PV Sindhu defeated top seed Carolina Marin of Spain in straight games to win the final match of the India Open badminton tournament in New Delhi on Sunday.
Third seed Sindhu beat the Spaniard 21-19, 21-16 in a match that lasted 46 minutes at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
The 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist took an early lead in the match and continued to dominate the game throughout in front of a cheering home crowd.
Sindhu took a crucial 5-1 lead in the first game but a fight back by Marin left the score 11-9 at the mid break.
Marin came back strongly after the change of ends to take a one-point lead 18-17 before Sindhu rallied to seal the game at 21-19.
The lanky Indian raced to a 4-0 lead in the second game and maintained a five-point lead at 15-10. She locked the game at 21-16 to win the $325,000 tournament.
“It was a very intense first game and it was crucial that I won it,” Sindhu said.
“It was a close encounter and tied at 19-19, either of us could have won it from there. We were not in the mood to give it away and played long rallies and eventually I came out on top.”
The maiden title win helped the Indian shuttler narrow down her head-to-head record against the Olympian Spaniard to 4-5.
Sindhu had last defeated Marin in the BWF Super Series in Dubai last year.
She won her semi-final clash against second-seeded Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea on Saturday.
In the men’s singles final, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark clinched the title beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen in straight games.
The third seed took 36 minutes to floor Chou 21-13, 21-10 to claim his maiden India Open title.
