India’s rising shuttler PV Sindhu clinched the women’s singles title at the Macau Open Badminton Grand Prix Gold Tournament on Sunday.
Sindhu, 18, who is the top seed for the event, beat world No.30 Li Michelle of Canada 21-15, 21-12 in just 37 minutes in the title clash.
Sindhu, who was bestowed the Arjuna award earlier this year, was dominant from start to finish in a lop-sided encounter against the seventh-seeded Canadian.
“I was confident going into the final after I defeated the Chinese player and knew that if I did not make mistake I can win the title,” Sindhu said.
This year has been a remarkable one for the Hyderabad-based shuttler. Besides the Malaysia Open triumph in May, Sindhu also became India’s first women’s singles medallist at the World Championship in August, where she claimed bronze.
Meanwhile world No. 10 Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong finally got it right to nail their first-ever men’s doubles title at the Macau Open GP Gold.
The pair had come close in the China Open last month, only to lose to South Korea’s Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong in the final.
This time, there was no denying Thien How-Wee Kiong as they were focused right till the end to score an upset over world No. 8 Lee Sheng-mu-Tsai Chia-hsin of Taiwan, winning 21-16, 21-19.
In the men’s singles, South Korea’s Son Wan-ho ended the title hopes of Taiwan’s Hsueh Hsuan-yi with a 21-11, 21-15 win.
It was Wan-ho’s second title since making a competitive return following a year of military service. Earlier, he won the Taiwan Open.
In the women’s doubles, China’s Bao Yixin-Tang Jinhua won their fifth title on the trot after defeating compatriots Yu Xiaohan-Huang Yaqiong 21-17, 21-15.
China also won the mixed doubles title with Kai Lu-Huang Yaqiong coming back from a game down to beat South Korea’s Choi Sol-kyu-Chae Yoo-jung 17-21, 21-18, 21-17. (macaunews)
