PV Sindhu displayed a lot of power and strength to win against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in her path to the semifinals at Rio Olympics but now she faces world number one, Carolina Marin for the final clash on August 19. Marin stands between Sindhu and the first ever gold medal for India in badminton. Marin dubbed as ‘Girl Nadal in Spain’, if she wins, will be the first European woman to win a badminton Olympic gold. Marin in the way to the finals had defeated Chinese powerhouse Li Xuerui, who was the Gold medallist at the London Olympics and crushed her with scores of 21-14, 21-16.
After beating World Number two, Wang Yihan, Sindhu beat Okuhara very comprehensively, executing every strategy to dismantle the stubborn opponent. Okuhara can annoy the best players in the world with her retrieving techniques yet it was Sindhu who reversed the roles and picked up every shot by the former and also created her own attacking opportunities. Okuhara who had earlier defeated Sindhu three times, but at Rio she had no answer for her high jump smashes and back-flips. Now India’s first badminton medal at Olympics is assured – it’s either gold or silver.
But beating Marin is not at all an easy task. She is simply the best player in the world at the moment. For the record, she has been the world champion twice and will be defending it and also won European championships twice.
Marin is left handed and very quick in the court. She can reach anywhere on the court and has all the time in the world to return anything, and the best part is that she smashes those so fast that opponents don’t even get the time to recover. That is her style.
WATCH: PV Sindhu Beats Nozomi Okuhara, Enters Final
Marin has defeated Sindhu in four encounters while Sindhu has defeated her thrice in head-to-head clashes. Last time they met in Hong Kong in November last year, and Sindhu lost 21-17, 21-19. But keeping history apart, one can easily say from the last few games that, this is a new Sindhu in Rio. She had even lost to Okuhara this year earlier, but at Rio, she turned the tides with her aggression and control. Indian coach P Gopichand and her strategies were executed patiently by her.
Sindhu will need to slow Marin’s game, as agility is her forte. To be able to defeat her, Sindhu has to put the Spaniard on the back foot right from the start and not allow her smashing returns. If Sindhu plays the dominating game that she displayed in the semis, she stands a good chance. Though Silver is assured, Sindhu does not look like she would be settling for it in the finals. India, devoid of Olympic glory, believes that the Marin will be dethroned.