Syed Modi badminton: PV Sindhu beats Malvika Bansod to claim women’s singles title
This is PV Sindhu’s first BWF title since the world championships, nearly two-and-a-half years ago.
India badminton ace PV Sindhu won the Syed Modi International 2022 after defeating upcoming Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod in the women’s singles final at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
PV Sindhu won the match 21-13, 21-16 in 35 minutes to clinch her second title at the Super 300 event. She had won the tournament in 2017 as well.
It was also PV Sindhu’s first BWF title since winning the badminton world championships in 2019 after losing twice in the finals last year at the Swiss Open and at the BWF World Tour Finals.
At the Syed Modi International, PV Sindhu raced to a 7-0 lead inside the first three minutes and kept the charge on to pocket the game in 14 minutes.
The second game saw a similar pattern with the world No. 7 Sindhu leading 11-4 at the mid-game interval. Bansod, the world No. 84, mounted a comeback and reduced the lead at 17-12 but the experienced Sindhu went on to seal the match in straight games.
This was also the first meeting between the 20-year-old Malvika Bansod and PV Sindhu at the international circuit.
Earlier this month, the southpaw made waves with her win over the London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal at the India Open. Malvika Bansod had earlier clinched the all India senior ranking tournament in December.
The mixed doubles title went to seventh seeds Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto. The pair took 29 minutes to defeat T Hema Nagendra Babu and Srivedya Gurazada 21-16, 21-12 in the final to claim their first Super 300 crown.
The men’s singles final, meanwhile, between Frenchman Arnaud Merkle and Lucas Claerbout was declared a 'no match'. One of the finalists tested positive for COVID-19 while the other was deemed a close contact and was also withdrawn.
Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, former All England champion Pullela Gopichand’s daughter, lost to Malaysia’s Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing 21-12, 21-13 in 32 minutes.
In the last match of the day, the Indian men’s doubles Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, seeded sixth, lost to the eighth seeds from Malaysia Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun 21-18 21-15 in 33 minutes to miss out on the title.
The Syed Modi International 2022 was the second tournament in this year’s BWF calendar after the India Open.
Next up is the Odisha Open Super 100 to be held in Cuttack from January 25 to 30.