Top-seeded Pusarla Venkata Sindhu of India won the Junior Asian badminton championship girls singles title defeating Japan's second-seeded Okuhara Nozomi 18-21, 21-17, 22-20 in the 59-minute final in Korea on Saturday, according to the information received here.
This is the first time an Indian girl has won the Junior ABC singles title.
The 17-year-old Sindhu, who is also the reigning Indian women’s senior national champion, is sponsored by Olympic Gold Quest and trains at the Pullela Gopi Chand Academy here.
India's chief national coach Pullela Gopi Chand congratulated Sindhu on her impressive win. "This should be the beginning of a new phase in her career. She has the talent and will surely go a long way," he remarked. "What is creditable is the fact that she beat some of the bigger names, who have been doing well in the senior’s circuit, in the previous rounds on route to final. And, considering that this is the toughest juniors tournament in the world as the major badminton powers are in Asia, this is a remarkable achievement," he explained.
