Top seeds PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen produced commanding performances to claim the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament in Lucknow on Sunday.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, ended her long title drought by outplaying China’s world number 119 Wu Luo Yu 21-14, 21-16 to lift the trophy for the third time, having previously triumphed in 2017 and 2022.
In the men’s singles final, Lakshya, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, was at his dominant best as he demolished Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-6, 21-7 in the title clash, displaying complete command over the match.
Sindhu’s victory marks her return to the top of the podium after over two years, with her last title win being at the Singapore Open in July 2022. The world number 18 also reached the finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 earlier this year.
Lakshya’s win comes as a balm after a disappointing loss in the bronze medal playoff at the Paris Olympics. The victory will undoubtedly boost his confidence ahead of the new season.
Indian badminton had more to celebrate on the day as the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand clinched their maiden Super 300 title with a convincing 21-18, 21-11 win over China’s Bao Li Jing and Li Qian.
The result made Treesa and Gayatri the first Indian women’s doubles team to win the title at this tournament. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallists, who had finished runners-up in 2022, went one step further this year with their solid performance.
In the men’s doubles final, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K put up a valiant fight before going down 14-21, 21-19, 17-21 to China’s Huang Di and Liu Yang in a marathon 71-minute clash.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles final, fifth seeds Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila started strong but couldn’t sustain their momentum, losing 21-18, 14-21, 8-21 to Thailand’s sixth-seeded pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran.
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