New Delhi: Ecstatic after clinching her maiden Super Series premier title at China Open today, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu said she was left speechless with emotions as she has finally realised a long-time dream.
The 21-year-old Sindhu registered a hard-fought 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 victory over China’s Sun Yu to clinch the China Open, just months after becoming the first Indian woman to win a silver at Olympic Games in Rio in August this year.
“It has been a dream for a long time to win a super series. After the Olympics, everyone was asking me whats next? It was important for me to get a super series title. Life changed a lot after the Olympics. People thought I will take a long time to get back. But I worked hard,” Sindhu said.
“This is my first super series title and I am very happy, I have no words to express. Last time I played Denmark final,” she added.
Talking about the tournament and today’s match, Sindhu said: “I played well. It is a great day for me. I just thought i can give my best, because I practiced hard. I was quite confident. From the first round it was tough.
“The first game was very easy. I am playing her after two and a half years, she is also tall like me and we both are attacking players. I lost the second game and in the third I started well and from 11-7, I maintained the lead.”
London bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and K Srikanth had won the China Open in 2014 and Sindhu said she was happy to emulate the former world No. 1.
“I did what Saina did in 2014 and I am very happy.”
Talking about her semifinal clash with Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, Sindhu said: “It was such a tough match, one of my best wins. There were such long rallies. I was so far down in the second, but I could come back. I thought let me just play and see. I had made so many errors. There were so many rallies, each point was a rally. She didn’t leave anything. I wasn’t tired. Even though we played long rallies, we had breaks in between. Neither of us was leaving the shuttle. My jump smashes worked in the end.
PTI