Mumbai: Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh (USD $14k) to PV Sindhu who become the first Indian player to ever win the BWF year-end tournament in Guangzhou on Sunday.
Sindhu who sank to her knees under the weight of her emotions after beating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in the summit clash to win the BWF World Tour Finals crown, showed how much the title meant to her.
She was shut down in seven finals during her 13-months title drought, some of them were big championships including — Asian Games final against Tai Tzu Ying and 2018 world championship final against Carolina Marin.
The 23-year-old lost to compatriot Saina Nehwal in the 2017 Indian senior national championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games final. She just couldn’t keep up with Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in last year’s BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai.
“I got really emotional because this is my first gold medal in this tournament and I just didn’t have anything in my mind. Normally people think like okay it is over ‘how do I shout or what should I do?’ but at that moment, I just didn’t have anything. I just closed my eyes and I was on my knees,” said Sindhu after the match on Sunday.
Meanwhile, BAI also awarded Rs 3 lakh (USD $4k) for Sameer Verma who reached the semi-finals in his maiden appearance at the BWF World Tour Finals.
“It’s a great year-ending for Indian badminton. Sindhu winning the Tours Final and defeating the best players to achieve the historic feat indicates the leap Indian badminton has taken. I congratulate both Sindhu and Sameer on behalf of entire BAI,” said BAI President, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
