Sindhu wins India’s first badminton world title

Pusarla Sindhu won India’s first-ever title at the world badminton championships when she comfortably beat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-7 21-7 to win the women’s singles in Basel yesterday.

Sindhu also ended her own unhappy run after she lost in the previous two world finals, including one against Okuhara in 2017, as well as the Olympic final in 2016 and the Commonwealth Games final last year. The 24-year-old, fifth in the world rankings, never looked back after racing to an eightpoint lead in the first game.

“Last time, I lost the finals. Before that, I also lost the finals so it’s very important for me to win now,” she said. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his congratulations on Twitter.