PV Sindhu Says Macau Open Badminton Title Due to Better Fitness
PV Sindhu won a hattrick of titles in the Macau Open badminton championship. This was her biggest win in an injury-hit season.
PV Sindhu attributed her third straight Macau Open badminton title to regaining full fitness ahead of the year-ending Grand Prix events. Sindhu defeated the experienced Minatsu Mitani of Japan in three tight games at the $120,000 event for her first big win this year.
This season, Sindhu has been laid low by a nagging heel injury. The 20-year-old Hyderabad girl, whose powerful smashes are well known in the circuit, has run hot and cold until she showed great consistency in her favourite hunting ground, Macau.
"Ending the year with a title is a great feeling. After coming back from an injury layoff, I lost in the final of the Denmark Open and now I won at Macau. I am really happy with my performance and of course, it's a hat-trick," Sindhu told Mid-Day.
Trained by national coach Pullela Gopichand, Sindhu missed the All-England but showed signs of a strong return in the Denmark Open that boasted of a very strong field.
Good show in Denmark
Sindhu reached the final of the Denmark Super series. She defeated double world champion Carolina Marin, Wang Yihan and Tai Tzu Ying before losing in the final to China's Olympic champion Li Xuerui.
"I could have won the title but I was happy as that was the first tournament I played with full fitness," Sindhu, who had beaten Xuerui at the world championship in August, said.
Gopichand said Sindhu has added an important facet to her game - patience. She played the waiting game and even after losing the second game against Minatsu, Sindhu held her nerves to win a contest that ran to 66 minutes.
"Staying calm and patient are some of the areas we are working on with her. The way she fought back after the second game's loss and the manner she controlled the contest will help her in the long run," Gopichand has been quoted as saying in the media.
Sindhu will be in action in the Indonesian Open this week in Malang. She will be the top seed and will face almost the same field as in Macau.
Meanwhile on Monday, the Badminton Association of India announced a cash award of Rs 10 lakh for Sindhu.