Lucknow: The reigning Olympic Champion Carolina Marin from Spain clinched the gold at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships at Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Marin got off to an aggressive start in the final by leading 11-6 against Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand at the mid-game interval in the first set. Marin continued to blast past Chaiwan and wrapped up the first game 21-12 after Chaiwan committed three unforced errors at the end of the game.
Chaiwan however was ahead in the second game at 11-6 before Marin tied the score at 11-11, 12-12. After that, the Spaniard was just unstoppable by converting her match point at the first try with a 21-16 second set victory.
This was Marin’s second BWF World Tour title of 2019, following her win at the China Open in September.
Despite the loud cheer from home fans, India’s Sourabh Verma couldn’t keep the men’s singles title at home as he went down to Wang Tzu Wei of Taiwan 15-21, 17-21 in the final.
The duo was engaged in long rallies at the beginning of first set before Wang held a slender 11-10 advantage at the interval.
After the break, Wang quickly surged ahead with 18-13 before romping the first set with 21-15.
Wang was playing with powerful smashes in the second set to seal the game 21-17.
