Commonwealth Games 2018: PV Sindhu vs Saina Nehwal, Head-To-Head

Indian badminton stars Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu will face each other in all-Indian women's singles gold match at 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia on Sunday. Both Saina and Sindhu are coming from easy outings in the singles category. While Saina has spent far more time on the court than Sindhu, the latter does not show any signs of weakness as the encounter is the one to look out for. In the head-to-head count, the former World No 1 enjoys a 3-1 lead over the current World No 3 Sindhu. If the BWF events alone are considered, World No 3 Sindhu trails Saina 1-2.

In the BWF events, Saina has beaten Sindhu 21-13, 21-19 in the 2018 Indonesia Masters and in the 2014 India Grand Prix Gold Saina defeated the Olympic silver medallist 21-14, 21-17. However, in the 2017 Yonex India Sunrise Open, Sindhu registered a 21-16, 22-20 win over the Olympic bronze medallist.

Earlier this year, Saina bettered her record against Sindhu by beating her 21-17, 27-25 in the Senior Badminton National Championship. Saina had won the first game comfortably but she was made to work for the title in the second game.

With the not-so-impressive record in mind, Sindhu would look to minimise the lead when she takes on Saina in the women's gold medal match at Gold Coast.

While Sindhu's would look to use her steep smashes to unsettle her compatriot, Saina will be keen to control the game via her strength of creating sharp angles.

In the CWG 2018 semi-final, while Sindhu eased past Canada's Michelle Li in straight games 21-18, 21-8 in the semi-final, Saina had to work hard against her opponent World No 18 Kristy Gilmour of Scotland, who she ultimately beat 21-14, 18-21, 21-17.