PV Sindhu scripted a wonderful win over the reigning Olympic Champion, Carolina Marin in a fiercely contested final at the India Open Super Series. While Sindhu had been knocking a the door for a long time, Marin’s return to form meant that Sindhu would have to dig really deep to counter her all round court play. But boy how well she managed to pull it all off!
Sindhu overcame Marin’s stiff challenge in two straight sets, romping to 21-16, 21-19 victory to claim her first India Open title.
Impressed with how Sindhu has grown over the past few years, Pullela Gopichand believes that she has the firepower to lead India to further glory over the next 4-5 years at least.
Also Read: Twitter erupts as PV Sindhu beats Carolina Marin
“Sindhu is just 21 and I think she will take us through for the next few years and by the time she is 25, we will figure something. I don’t want to pick a junior name right now, but I can assure you that four years from now we will have solid bench strength in women’s singles,” Gopichand told PTI.
“It will take a little time, we have prospects like Ruthvika and Rituparna, who also have the potential of doing well. There are others in the ranks. I think it is not easy to produce players back to back.”
When asked about how the doubles scene was panning out, Gopichand enthusiastically named a few players who could dominate the event in the coming future.
“I think we can say that Pranaav and Sikki have done well and Chirag and Satwik are also there.”
“There are at least 6-7 players under the age of 20 who have the potential to do well, so overall good signs for Indian badminton,” he added.
Gopichand was also immensely proud with the way Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty performed at the Vietnam Open, winning the title there at such a tender age.
“They are just 18 and 19 years old and they are doing well for this age. These matches give them a lot of confidence and they are developing very well.”
Gopichand is extremely positive about the future of Indian badminton and feels that if the current crop of players stay fit for a long time, Indian badminton could rule the world for the foreseeable future.
