Revenge tastes sweet and more so on home turf. In a pulsating final, Rio Olympics silver medallist and world no. 5 Pusarla Ventaka Sindhu downed the Rio Olympics gold medal winner Carolina Marin of Spain in straight sets to win her maiden India Open title at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, here on Sunday.
In Olympics 2016, Sindhu had gone down fighting but on Sunday, she turned that fight into victory and beat Marin 21-19, 21-16 in the women's singles final of Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series.
Unlike the Rio final, Sindhu didn't enter the court with a flashing smile and it seemed like this time around, she was ready to reserve her happiness and smile only for the ultimate glory.
Sindhu lost the first point of the game but immediately after, she restored parity and the packed stadium echoed with thunderous applause.
Sindhu then won five points in a row to take a big 6-1 lead but Marin soon crawled back to take the next three points to make it 6-4.
The two women engaged each other in rallies trying to squeeze out points as they played cross court and made each other run for every point.
With a perfect drop shot, Sindhu went into the break with an 11-9 lead.
Marin stayed neck-and-neck with the Indian and finally managed to draw level. At 17-17, Sindhu did the mistake of constantly just blocking Marin's aggressive shots and thus Marin took the lead for the first time in the game.
As she berated herself for giving away the lead, Sindhu came back with some fiery set of shots even as Marin found it difficult to keep her strikes in. Despite going down late in the set, Sindhu went on to win the crucial first set 21-19.
Sindhu said after the match, "I think the first game was crucial for the both of us and I'm happy I could pocket that and carry the momentum with me."
The Hyderabadi girl started the second set just where she left the previous opening a 4-0 lead.
Sindhu seemed to be applying the same strategy that she did against Marin in Rio Olympics as she kept most of her serves high and put herself into an attacking position.
Even as Marin's scream rung the stadium every time she won a point, much like Rio, this time it was Sindhu who was seen breaking her opponent's momentum but delaying Marin's serves.
Marin persisted for long but broke down after a point as many a times it were her wayward shots and her nervousness that gave Sindhu an upper hand.
Sindhu never let the opportunity slip and finished off the set 21-16 to become only the second Indian after Saina Nehwal to win the prestigious title.
This is also her second title of the season at home afterwinning the Syed Modi Grand Prix in Lucknow early this year and her second Super Series title post winning the China Open Super Series in November 2016.
Though disheartened, Marin congratulated Sindhu and said, "I have been getting better now after battling with injuries and I'm happy with my performance."
"On-court we might be rivals but off-court we are very good friends and I am happy for her that she won as she was the better player on the day," the Spaniard added about Sindhu.
Earlier in the day, Viktor Axelsen lived up to his top billing in the tournament as he fended off Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-10 to lift his maiden title in India.
Throughout the game, it was Victor who held the charges and Chou seemed far too fragile for the mightiness of the world no. 4.
In the men's doubles clash, top seeded Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya of Indonesia beat their compatriots Ricky Karandasuwardi and Angga Pratama 21-11, 21-15 without breaking much sweat to win the title.
In the women's doubles, it was an all-Japan affair with Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto, seeded seventh, getting better of third seeds Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao 16-21, 21-19, 21-10.
The mixed doubles title went to Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China after the beat their compatriots Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 22-24, 21-14, 21-17.