HYDERABAD: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu of India had the measure of Malaysia’s Sonia Cheah 22-20, 21-8 in the final to bag the women’s singles gold in badminton in the Commonwealth Youth Games being held at Island of Man. In the process, Sindhu clinched the first gold medal in the games.
On Saturday, Sindhu had beaten Li Lian Yang of Malaysia in straight sets in the semifinals.
In the men’s singles final, Sameer Verma had to settle for a silver as the Indian lost to Zulfadlli Zulkiffli (Malaysia) 16-21, 21-15, 15-21. The mixed doubles pair of K Srikanth and K Maneesha went down to Ee Yi Teo and Mei Kuan Chow (Malaysia).
K Srikant and Hema Nagendra Babu, who lost in the semifinals, won the bronze defeating Nathan Choi and Myl Yakura (Canada) 21-14, 15-21, 21-12.
Poonia enters Final
Promising boxer Rahul Poonia continued his good show at the ongoing Commonwealth Youth Games by advancing into the final of the light flyweight category on Sunday. However, there was disappointment for India in the middle weight category as the reigning Youth National Champion Surender Singh lost his semifinal bout to Grant Quigley of Scotland to settle for bronze.
“It was a good win for me,” Poonia said.