Sindhu on top of the world

Pusarla VENKATA SINDHU, the girl who was once too shy to shout loud encouragements to herself on the court, is the new champion of the world in badminton, joining the very small list of Indians who have become world champions. Sindhu won the World Championships gold at her third attempt, beating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara. Last year, she had lost a one-sided final to Carolina Marin of Spain. Two years ago, she had come closer to the title before suffering a heartbreaking loss to Okuhara. Sindhu exorcised the ghost of that loss on Sunday when she crushed Okuhara 21-7 21-7, in only 38 minutes. The power of Sindhu’s smashes left her Japanese opponent quite helpless. This was Sindhu at her best in the tournament, though she had to work harder to beat the sublimely gifted Tai Tzu-Ying, the world No. 1, in the quarterfinals.

Sindhu has been India’s best woman badminton player for several years, but she’s been haunted by a question right from the time she burst into top-flight sport: Does she have the killer instinct to win the biggest matches? Sindhu’s regular defeats to Saina Nehwal are especially baffling — Sindhu is clearly the superior player, but it seems likely that she’s unable to overcome a mental block against her senior compatriot. The perception that she had a frailty in her mind gained strength with each loss in the final of a big tournament: the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

After her world title, a strong case can be made that she’s the greatest Indian sportsperson ever, male or female. Depending on the jury, that honour could go to someone else, such as wrestler Sushil Kumar, shooter Abhinav Bindra, boxer Mary Kom or tennis player Leander Paes. However, Sindhu’s achievements over the last six years are second to none in Indian sport: She had won two bronze and two silver at the World Championships, and a silver at the Olympics. The World Championships gold should clinch the argument. She should reinforce it over the next few years, for she’s only 24 and has years of top-flight badminton in her.