Kuala Lumpur: Having clinched her maiden Grand Prix Gold title in Malaysia, India's rising shuttler P V Sindhu expressed her gratitude to the national coach Pullela Gopichand and the Badminton Association of India. Sindhu said that the support and contribution of her coach and the association enabled her to clinch her first Grand Prix Gold title.
"This is a dream come true for me. I would like to thank the BAI President Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta and chief coach Pullela Gopichand for motivating me and pushing me to excel," Sindhu said after she won the final of the women's singles event.
The 17-year-old Sindhu, ranked 13th in the world, lived up to her top billing in the tournament, beating Singaporean fifth seed and world No. 27 Juan Gu in the women's singles final, 21-17 17-21 21-19 in an hour and 11 minutes.
Sindhu, who made it to a quarterfinal, two semifinals and a final in the last one month, has been in tremendous form and Akhilesh Das Gupta hailed the teen shuttler for bringing laurels to the country. "This is a proud day for Indian sports and our country's badminton. I congratulate P V Sindhu for bringing great laurels for India," said Das Gupta.
"Sindhu had come close to winning a Grand Prix Gold in the finals in Lucknow last year but I'm thrilled she has clinched her maiden GP title on foreign soil. She is capable of achieving much more and I'm sure her victory will boost Indian shuttlers to aim higher at the World Championship and Super series tournaments," he added.
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