HYDERABAD: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu took a giant leap on the international arena.
The 16-year-old Hyderabad girl, who is following in the footsteps of world number four Saina Nehwal, fell one step away from crowning herself to glory when she lost to 19th seed Yao Jie of Netherlands 16-21, 17-21 in 40-minute women’s singles final of Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Almere city. Sindhu, who stunned top seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-17, 14-21, 21-13 in the semifinals on Saturday, began shakily as the Dutch girl dominated the first game.
However, the Indian began strongly by taking a good 5-2 lead. Jie clawed back to quell the inexperienced Sindhu’s challenge to win the second game also. Sindhu currently trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad and her trip to the Dutch city was sponsored by Olympic Gold Quest.