Sindhu dedicates historic World C'ship win to mother

Basel: Moments after becoming the first Indian shuttler to win the World Championships, shuttler PV Sindhu dedicated the historic triumph to her mother, who celebrated her birthday on Sunday, and the country.

In a final that lasted just 38 minutes, Sindhu demolished Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-7, 21-7.

"This means a lot, it is a big win. I had lost in the finals in the last two editions," said Sindhu in an on court interview after the match. "I won for my country, I am really very proud," said an emotional Sindhu wearing a satisfied smile on her face.

"I would like to thank my coach (South Korean Kim Ji Hyun) and Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand) and also my parents. Today is my mother's birthday, so happy birthday mom!" she added. Sindhu dedicated the win to her mother P Vijaya.

"A lot of credit to my coaches, Gopi Sir and Kim (Ji Hyun) and also to my parents, my support staff and sponsors who believed in me," she said.

"I dedicate this win to my mom, its her birthday today. I thought I will gift her something and finally I gift her this gold medal. It is because of my parents that I am here today."

As the Indian national anthem reverberated across the St Jakobshalle stadium here, Sindhu stood at the podium with moist eyes.

"It was really special when the flag went up and national anthem was playing and I had goosebumps, I have no words to express because you play for your country and it is definitely a proud moment for me," she said. The Olympic silver medallist said she approached the finals like any other match and it took the pressure off her as she could produce her best.

"I think I just focused on my match and didn't think it was a final. I just thought it was just another match like I played the semifinals and quarterfinals. I just went in that way and gave my 100 percent.

"Winning and losing is secondary but for me just going to the court and giving my 100 percent is very important."

Talking about the final, Sindhu said, "Usually the Japanese girls play a lot of rallies , so there were long rallies and then I was dominating all of them and from the starting I maintained the lead and finished it off.

"I was very confident even though I was giving one or two points, then I was getting those points back and finally I did it." Crestfallen after the devastating loss, Okuhara, the 2017 champion, said she just couldn't match up to the pace of Sindhu.