PV Sindhu won her maiden India Open Superseries title with a straight-games win over Carolina Marin. It was expected that the final would be closely fought, but that assessment eventually proved incorrect. In the Olympic champion's favour was the fact that she had got the better of the Indian in most of the matches they had played and in the one that really counted -- at Rio last year. But Sindhu was in red-hot form. And in the end that was what really counted in the 47-minute match.
Sindhu took the early lead in both games and the Spaniard was always chasing her. Marin bridged that gap in the first game -- taking a 19-18 lead at one stage -- but the Indian reeled off three straight points to claim that game. The contest was far more lopsided in the second. Not long after the interval, Sindhu opened up a 14-9 lead that Marin could never reduce to less than three points at any stage.
The left-handed Marin is known to be tricky to face owing to the unusual angles she creates, but Sindhu was able to read her game with confidence. While she dominated the back court, she was also beating Marin to the net. Marin conceded the game even as she hit a smash into the net. It was one of several errors that punctuated her game on Sunday evening. None of this mattered to the capacity crowd, of course, who were cheering Sindhu in what they saw as a grudge match for the Olympic loss.
The victory was Sindhu's second at the Superseries level but her first at home. While the India Open had long eluded her, Sindhu was expected to be one of the favourites going into the contest. None of this proved to be a burden on the 21-year old. "I wasn't under any pressure either in this match or in the tournament," Sindhu said later. For Marin though, the tournament extends a long winless spell. She hasn't won a tournament since her Olympic gold.
She will have the chance to make amends as the Asia leg of the Superseries heads to Malaysia next week and then onwards to Indonesia, Singapore and Australia before moving on to Glasgow for the World Championships. "I have the Olympic gold, not winning a Superseries doesn't bother me," Marin said after the game. However, the nature of her two most recent losses to the Indian -- she had lost in straight games at the 2016 year-ending Dubai Super Series Finals as well -- will weigh on her mind.
For Sindhu, who has now improved to 4-5 against Marin in senior international competition, though, the win cements the confidence with which she is playing.