PV Sindhu storms into final, one win away from historic gold medal at Rio 2016 Olympics

P V Sindhu scripted history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the finals of the women’s singles competion at the Rio Olympics as she stunned Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in straight games to assure India of atleast a silver medal. The two-time bronze medallist at World Championship notched up a sensational 21-19 21-10 victory over the All England Champion from Japan in a pulsating semi-final that lasted 49 minutes. (Source: PTI)

PV Sindhu from Hyderabad will next take on two-time World Champion and top seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the summit clash on Friday. The immensely talented Hyderabadi girl has done a notch better than her illustrious senior Saina Nehwal, who got country’s its first medal from badminton a bronze in London 2012. (Source: Reuters)

PV Sindhu had a 1-3 head-to-head record against Okuhara but all that went for a toss as the Indian came out with a well-thought strategy as she engaged the Japanese in long-rallies with her angled returns and deft drops. (Source: AP)

In the opening game which lasted 29 minutes, PV Sindhu opened up a 4-1 lead early on and rode on Okuhara’s unforced errors to extend the advantage to 8-4. The Indian engaged her rival in long rallies and tried to vary the pace and finish them with well-executed drops. (Source: AP)

In the second game, PV Sindhu again began convincingly taking a 3-0 lead before Okuhara took five straight points to sit at a 5-3 lead. (Source: AP)

PV Sindhu retrieved everything that was thrown at her but she rushed on to a stroke to hit the net. At the interval, Sindhu managed a slender 11-10 lead after her return landed at the corner of the court. (Source: AP)

PV Sindhu kept earning points, hitting one smash after another to enjoy a comfortable ride. (Source: AP)

It was a deceptive return which helped PV Sindhu reach a massive 10-point match point and then eked her name into the history books with a smash that caught Okuhara at the forecourt. For the record, Marin also entered her maiden Olympic final beating London Olympic champion Li Xuerui 21-14 21-16. (Source: Reuters)