Saina Nehwal Beats PV Sindhu To Clinch National Badminton Championship 

Nagpur: Saina Nehwal defeated fellow Hyderabadi PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 in the final of the National Badminton Championships here on Wednesday. With this win, the Olympic bronze medalist has clinched her third nationals title in as many appearances.

After an almost equally fought Saina Nehwal has finally defeated PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 in a hard-fought final encounter.

Saina took the first game quite comfortably, winning it 21-17. However, Sindhu, too, fought back brilliantly in the second game, but her efforts went in vain.

Earlier, Saina had taken advantage due to Sindhu’s unforced errors, and Sindhu was clearly struggling. The second game had mixed fortunes for both shuttlers, with the score reading 20-19 in favour of Saina. However, Sindhu fought back valiantly at regular intervals, and the score read 24-24. From then, it was Saina’s game as she finally clinched the title.

Both Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu have got off to a very competitive start in the final, with the former having the upper hand for the most part of the game. However, Sindhu has managed to bounce back and fought till the end.

Saina defeated Anura Prabhudesai 21-11, 21-10 in the semifinal, whereas Sindhu completed a hard-fought win over Ruthwika Shivani in her semifinal clash, as the match finished 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 in the semifinal.

Earlier, HS Prannoy had defeated fellow Hyderabadi Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 16-21, 21-7 in final of the men’s singles title clash.

PV Sindhu was with full of confidence when she met with her fellow Hyderabadi, after having recently defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the final of the Korea Open, after the final score read 22-20, 11-21, 21-18.

Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal added one more title to her belt, after having beaten Pornpawee Chochuwong in the final of the Malaysia Masters back in January this year.