CHENNAI: The first point of the World Championships final, in a nutshell, was the PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin final in its entirety. The Spaniard began play with a serve and there was a back and forth where both players looked in control of the point. That was before Marin injected pace into the rally. Two smashes later, it was 1-0 Marin.
A little over 45 minutes later, the scoreboard said ‘Marin bt Sindhu 21-19, 21-10’.
Even if the scoreline, especially in the second game, reflected a dominating victory, it still didn’t do justice to the way Marin approached the contest. Think peak Rafael Nadal on the French clay or Michael Schumacher behind the wheels of a F1 car on a rainy day. She was so in command of the Indian that Sindhu, by the end of the second game, had even stopped celebrating after winning points. She had already resigned herself to another silver at this level, her second in two years after going down to Nozomi Okuhara in Glasgow last year.
After a closely fought first game — Sindhu had opened up a 15-11 lead before the Olympic gold-medallist essayed her full array of shots to take the game 21-19 — the expectation was that the second would follow a similar template. The 25-year-old’s aggression and ability to hit drops at will versus Sindhu’s ability to stay in the point, long reach and howitzer-like smashes from the back of the court.
Instead, the Madrid native, who was curiously ranked seventh here, began the second like a house on fire. She summoned her flicks and drops and Sindhu, who has now lost four finals this year alone, was reduced to being a traffic cone more than once. Marin’s sheer speed meant the Indian, who tried to slow down the pace on more than one occasion, was consistently behind the eight ball.
Sindhu, who has now lost eight finals including the one at Rio against the same opponent, vowed to come back stronger.
“It is very frustrating to lose again. Last time also I had played the finals. It is quite sad and I have to come back stronger and get back to the sessions and prepare for the next tournament. Sometimes it is not your day, ups and downs will always be there and you have to always be stronger.” She will have little turnaround time before the beginning of the Asiad this month.
The southpaw, who became the first women’s singles player to win three gold at this event, said she was lost for words.
“I can’t express my emotions. I have so many emotions inside me. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I am happy I could believe in myself this week.”
Momota creates history
Meanwhile, Japan’s Kento Momota created history by becoming the first Japanese man to win singles gold. He achieved the feat by beating China’s Shi Yuqi 21-11, 21-13. Both of those, ranked No 7 and No 3 respectively, will be two of Srikanth Kidambi’s rivals in Jakarta.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com