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One of best matches I have ever seen: Saina Nehwal's mentor pays tribute to PV Sindhu

If only some exceptions could be made in sport.

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India’s PV Sindhu stretches to return against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in their women’s singles final in Glasgow on Sunday. Sindhu went on to lose in three games to clinch silver
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If only some exceptions could be made in sport.

For the kind of badminton that the two 22-year-olds, India's PV Sindhu and her Japanese opponent Nozomi Okuhara dished out on Sunday in Glasgow, each deserved a gold medal. Sometimes, sports can be cruel in the sense that there is only one winner.

Even in her loss, Sindhu emerged a winner. Sindhu did upgrade the colour of her World Championships medals from bronze in 2013 and 2014 to silver on Sunday and emulated what her senior shuttler Saina Nehwal, who was standing by her side on the podium with her bronze medal, did in Jakarta two years ago.

In an epic women's singles final lasting one hour and 50 minutes, 2016 Rio Games bronze medallist Okuhara rewarded herself for having better stamina to clinch Japan's first gold medal at the Worlds in 40 years with a 21-19 20-22 22-20 win over Sindhu.

Former chief national coach and currently mentor of Saina Nehwal was at the arena to witness what he told DNA later "as one of the best matches I have ever seen".
Speaking to DNA after the memorable final, Vimal Kumar said: "It is really sad to see Sindhu go down like that. It was an unbelievable match."

Analysing the energy-sapping match, Kumar said: "When PV led 18-14 in the first game, Okuhara came back to make it 18-all. Sindhu should have shown the same determination that she showed in the second game to win 22-20. Had she done it in the first, she would have won the final in straight games," felt Kumar.

"And, in the third game with two championship points at 19-17, Sindhu failed to capitalise on it. Having said that, full credit to Okuhara for winning the gold. The way she played three back-to-back three-game tough matches – quarterfinal against Carolina Marin, semifinal against Saina and the final – and each lasting more than an hour showed her fitness levels.

"This was one of the best matches I have seen in a very very long time in terms of the closeness of the scores and the rallies," said Kumar.

The 54-year-old Kumar said the 2015 Jakarta Worlds quarterfinal match that Saina Nehwal won against Chinese Wang Yihan in 72 minutes came close to the latest final in terms of intense contest.

Kumar paid rich tributes to Okuhara's retrieving abilities. The long rallies that were the feature of the final saw Okuhara win more than Sindhu. "Okuhara's retrieving abilities were unbelievable. Conditions where the shuttles are slow suit Okuhara. In spite of Sindhu hitting some of the sharp strokes, the way Okuhara picked them was unbelievable," observed Kumar, even as he excused himself briefly to congratulate the champion from Japan.

"At 19-all in the deciding game, some of Okuhara's movements on the court showed that she can still play and not give in. That kind of attitude showed how really tough one was and it showed the opponent that 'I can still stick in'," said Kumar.

"Both Sindhu and Okuhara gave everything. There is no loser in my book. Both are winners," he said. He felt for Sindhu when the fourth-seed shed a tear after the loss.

"You can literally see top players cry in tennis matches. I have seen Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal publicly crying when they lose. She was absolutely shattered. I felt sorry to see Sindhu weep after the final. All we can tell her is she has many years ahead of her.

"The loss is very tough for anyone to digest. After all, Sindhu is just a woman. She is not a silver medallist. I would put her as a gold medallist," said Kumar, who revealed that Sindhu was fine soon after as she and Saina went for a photo shoot of their kit sponsors.


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