Finance
On Sunday, PV Sindhu created history. The veteran became the first Indian and, at 31, the oldest woman to win a BWF Super 750 title, defeating world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-17 in their 30th match at the Japan Open final.
Take a breather and read the numbers again. ‘First’ Indian, ’31’ years old. The ‘first’ Super 750 title. Her ’30th’ bout versus long-time adversary Yamaguchi (who had won their previous two matches this year). Once you’ve digested that, here are a few more: It’s Sindhu’s ‘first’ title since the Syed Modi International, a Super 300 in 2024. The big news: it’s her ‘first’ BWF Major victory since the 2019 World Championship gold.
It’s an impressive feat to win a Super 750 title in your 30s in a field as competitive as modern women’s singles, but to do it after months, if not years, of poor results is something unique. The fact that she arrived via two walkovers on an injured field does not diminish her accomplishment. After all, you can only battle the field in front of you, and Sindhu has done just that: fought. Sindhu has fought against odds, injuries, and the wave of younger players, and when the time arose, she seized it with the dedication that has made her one of Indian sport’s GOATs.
It takes a special athlete to rage against the dying light (as the poem goes), and Sindhu has been raging for months before finally getting the silverware to show for it in Tokyo, the city that saw her create history with a second Olympic medal in 2021. “I had tears in my eyes because it was very, very important for me to win,” she said after win. “I was really working hard on myself and kept believing that I could do it. Even though a lot of people were asking what was happening, I still believed in myself, my family, my coaches and my support staff.”
Sindhu’s motivation to put in the hard yards and keep continuing on the grueling badminton tour at the age of 31 is admirable, following years of success and more recent adversity. She hadn’t won a title in almost a year and hadn’t had a significant result in even longer, as her recovery from foot surgery four years ago continued to hamper her. Lack of success can be tremendously demotivating for an athlete as decorated as Sindhu, but she has always shown up every time, even if she is unseeded and has drawn tougher opponents, playing well but suffering near the finish line against players in their prime or a decade younger. But… she has turned up, put in the work and kept fighting, kept getting faster, fitter, stronger.
The Japan Open victory demonstrated this, as she overcame Yamaguchi despite trailing early and stormed to win the first game 21-17 after drawing it up at 17-17. Remember, this was a Sindhu who had lost to Yamaguchi in the Australian Open semifinals and Thailand Open quarterfinals less than a month before.
