PV Sindhu had headed to Glasgow with a clear plan. She had already won two World Championships medals -- Bronze in 2013 and 2014. The 22-year-old had revealed she wanted to change the colour of her medal in the 2017 edition of the annual world meet.
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"I am definitely looking for a medal here and hopefully, better one than bronze this time, I also want to change the colour, so will fight for that," Sindhu had said.
Sindhu has lived up to her words. On Sunday, August 27, the Indian shuttler, assured of at least a silver, will take on seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a bid to become the first ever badminton world champion from India.
Playing big tournaments has never fazed Sindhu. Her silver-medal winning performances at the Rio Olympics in August last year came as a testament to her big-match abilities. A year later, the world number four has once again proved it with a near-perfect run in Glasgow.
Notably, Sindhu was not in the best of her forms after her India Superseries win in April this year. The Pullela Gopichand-trained shuttler suffered early exits in Malaysia, Indonesia and failed to get past the quarter-final in Singapore, Badminton Asia Championships and Australian Open.
Sindhu though opened her Glasgow campaign by decimating lower-ranked South Korean opponent Kim Hyo Min in the R32 21-16, 21-14. However, she was tested by her third-round opponent Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong.
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Sindhu battled for an hour and 27 minutes against Cheung to take the match 19-21, 23-21, 21-17. However, she showed no signs of fatigue during her 39-minute mauling of fifth seed Sun Yu in the quarter-final of Friday, August 25.
On Saturday, hours after Saina Nehwal's semi-final defeat to Okuhara, it was business, as usual, for Sindhu.
The Indian shuttler was unperturbed by the growing reputation of her 19-year-old opponent Chen Yufei of China as she went about decimating the teen 21-13, 21-10 in just 48 minutes.
When does the match start
The final match between Sindhu and Okuhara is expected to start at 2pm local time/6:30pm IST
Who is Okuhara, Sindhu's final opponent
Okuhara entered the final after outclassing Saina 12-21, 21-17, 21-10 in the semi-final, that lasted an hour and 13 minutes. Notably, the 22-year-old had also eliminated the reigning world and Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the quarter-final, which was also a draining, long battle.
Okuhara needed an hour and 33 minutes to beat Marin 21-18, 14-21, 21-15. On Sunday, a lot will depend on the Japanese shuttler's ability to withstand the pressure against Sindhu, especially after two marathon matches on the trot.
Notably, Okuhara has beaten Sindhu three times in six meetings, but the Indian shuttler has won two of their recent meetings. While the win at Singapore Open earlier this year game in three games, Sindhu outclassed the Japanese shuttler in the semi-final of Rio Olympics last year.
On the other hand, Okuhara showed she is ready for stern fights when she came back from behind to beat Saina yesterday. The world number 12 is also a nine-match winning streak, which includes the winning run at Australian Open in June.
However, she has to be on top of her game as Sindhu will be relatively fresher. With the added advantage, the Indian shuttler, with her jump smashes and unbelievable court coverage, will be hard to stop.
