Badminton Nationals: Saina defeats Sindhu to clinch second successive title
Indian women's singles ace Saina Nehwal beat heavyweight PV Sindhu to clinch the 83rd Yonex Sunrise Senior Badminton Nationals. This was Saina's second successive and a fourth career title victory as well. Saina surged past Sindhu 21-18, 21-15 in straight games to clinch the finale in Guwahati on Saturday. Here is more on Saina's win.
. @NSaina - National Champion 2019
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) February 16, 2019
In the battle of the #ShuttleQueens, it was Saina Nehwal who dominated the proceedings to win the finals of Women's Singles at the Yonex Sunrise 83rd Senior Nationals with a scoreline of 21-18 21-15. Kudos! #IndiaontheRIse #SeniorNationals2019 pic.twitter.com/Hhe4gIQ7Kl
Saina had earlier beaten Sindhu in last edition's final in Nagpur. Saina ensured that she kept a better head-to-head record against Sindhu in career meetings. The 28-year-old used her powerful smashes in a superb manner against the two-time winner. Back in 2018, Saina had also defeated 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games summit clash.
In the men's doubles category, Praanav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty clinched the title. The two players beat top seeds Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran 21-13, 22-20 in just 33 minutes.
Meanwhile, Sourabh Verma completed a hat-trick of titles at the Senior Badminton Nationals. He claimed the men's singles crown by defeating Lakshya Sen in straight games. The 26-year-old, who had won the title in 2011 and 2017, showed great composure to outplay 17-year-old teenager Lakshya. Sourabh beat the Asian junior champion, 21-18, 21-13 in a lop-sided contest.
