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Top-seeded PV Sindhu defeated Malvika Bansod 21-13, 21-16 in the final of the Syed Modi International badminton tournament on Sunday (January 23) to win the event for the second time in her career.
Sindhu did not take too much time in defeating her opponent as the match went on for only 35 minutes.
In the semi-final, Sindhu had faced Russian opponent Evgeniya Kosetskaya but the fifth-seeded Russian faced an injury and had to leave the semi-final clash midway.
Malvika's progress
India’s Malvika on the other hand, defeated another Indian badminton player Anupama Upadhyaya 19-21, 21-19, 21-7 in the other semi-final to seal her berth for the final game. But the two-time Olympic medalist was in superb form and not for a moment it seemed like that she would lose the most important match of the event.
In the first game of the final match, Sindhu started the game on a positive note and quickly secured a big lead (11-1) but the Maharashtra-born Malvika was prompt enough to reduce the deficit and claim some points but that was not enough as Sindhu convincingly won the first game after increasing her lead (21-16).
In the second game, the 20-year-old badminton player Malvika did show some signs of a comeback but that proved to be inadequate as Sindhu earned a healthy lead (11-4) at the break.
Sindhu's experience
There were some efforts from the 84th-ranked Malvika as she reduced the lead to five points (17-12) but Sindhu used her experience and sublime skills to eventually seal the victory. Malvika on the other hand, who was playing her first Super 300 final, lacked the experience that was needed to take part in high-voltage finals.
Meanwhile, seventh-seeded Indians Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto won the mixed doubles event after defeating the unseeded Indian pair of T Hema Nagendra Babu and Srivedya Gurazada 21-16, 21-12. The final match in the mixed doubles event was almost one-sided affair as it went on for just 29 minutes.
The men’s singles final on the other hand, was disrupted due to a positive Covid-19 case. The final was slated to be held between Arnaud Merkle and Lucas Claerbout. But eventually the match did not take place at all after one of the finalists was tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.
