Kuala Lumpur: India's rising badminton star PV Sindhu got the better of Juan Gu of Singapore in the final to win her maiden Grand Prix Gold title in Malaysia here on Saturday.
In a gruelling final, the top-seeded Indian out did her fifth-seeded opponent 21-17 17-21 21-19 in an hour and 11 minutes.
The World No. 13 Indian shuttler showed her grit and determination throughout and hit as many as 17 smash winners compared to just nine by the Singaporean girl.
Though Sindhu started off brilliantly by taking a 5-0 lead in the opening set, but Juan Gu came back strong to make it 7-7. The Singaporean then went on to take a 10-7 lead. But the Indian youngster showed her mettle as she went on to clinch six consecutive points to make it 13-10 and finally won the set 21-17.
The second set was tougher as it was a neck-to-neck battle till 15-15. Juan Gu however fought back to take up three straight points for the lead and finally won the set at 21-17.
The third and final set too was tied at 5-5 but te Indian the the sacre as Gu went on to take a massive 13-7 lead. But with Gu leading 15-10, Sindhu fought back to pocket four points on the trot and reduce the gap to 14-15. Thereafter the match tilted from one end to another with the scores levelled at 18-18 at one stage. Sindhu managed to bag two more points and pushed herself when it mattered most to close the issue at 21-19.
By ISN