Badminton player PV Sindhu created history when she became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the badminton World Championships on Sunday. The fifth seed beat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in a lop-sided final, 21-7, 21-7 in Basel.
The win was especially sweet for the 24 year old from Hyderabad because Okuhara had denied Sindhu the gold just two years ago at Glasgow in what had been a heartbreaking 110-minute epic battle.
Sindhu got her revenge on Sunday with a dominant win for her fifth World Championships medal, which is the joint most for a woman singles player with former Olympic and world champion Zhang Ning of China. Before this Sindhu had won two successive silvers and two bronze medals.
"Last time I lost in the finals and before year also I lost the finals. I am very happy this time. It was a very important win for me. I would like to thank the crowd because it means a lot. Every time they were there for my match. They cheered me. Big thanks to all of you. I won for my country. I am very proud of being an Indian," said Sindhu after the match.
One of India’s biggest badminton stars in the last few years, Sindhu also has an Olympic silver from the 2016 Rio Games, a silver at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, an Asian Games silver at Jakarta and won the BWF World Tour Finals last year.
Tributes poured in for Sindhu after her win from across the nation:
