Saina Nehwal defeats PV Sindhu to win National Badminton Championships title

Saina Nehwal dug deep into her reservoir of experience and upstaged fancied PV Sindhu, quite incredibly, in straight games to clinch the women's singles title in the Senior National Badminton Championship yesterday

Saina Nehwal dug deep into her reservoir of experience and upstaged fancied PV Sindhu, quite incredibly, in straight games to clinch the women's singles title in the Senior National Badminton Championship yesterday. Saina, 27, a former world number one, got the better of Sindhu, the Olympic and World Championship silver medallist, 21-17, 27-25 in a pulsating summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.

Saina Nehwal beat rival PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 in the final. Pic/PTI

"I am surprised with the way I played today. I moved well and picked Sindhu's difficult shots," an elated Saina said after the win. The excitement reached a crescendo when Saina and Sindhu made it to the finals. The whole stadium reverberated with cheers of 'Saina Sindhu India' as both the players engaged in some exciting rallies at the Divisional Sports Complex. The duo split the initial 10 points before Saina started putting the shuttle in difficult positions. However, unforced errors came back to haunt Sindhu as she hit out thrice and found the net once.

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