PV Sindhu wins historic World Championships Gold

PV Sindhu produced a dominating performance to outclass third seeded Nozomi Okuhara from Japan 21-7, 21-7 to win a gold medal in the World Championships 2019. In the process, the fifth seeded PV Sindhu bettered her 2017, 2018 appearances in the World Championships final and became the first Indian to win the marquee tournament.

PV Sindhu, without breaking a sweat, closed the first game in 16 minutes. Nozomi Okuhara, on the other hand, continued to make unforced errors to allow PV Sindhu clinch the championship point and seal the final in 38 minutes.

With the historic victory, the Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu leads the head-to-head battle against Okuhara 8-7. The 2016 Olympics silver medallist had previously beaten the Japanese in the Indonesia Open 2019. Sindhu completely took control of the match from the opening game. She clinched eight consecutive points to make the final look like a walk in the park. Okuhara, on the contrary, looked out of touch and failed to produce any serious challenge for her Indian counterpart.

In the second game, Sindhu, who had defeated World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals, continued to display her brilliance from the outset, clinching seven consecutive points. She did not allow Okuhara settle down as the Japanese displayed her agony by screaming loudly with every point she lost.

Netherlands won Women Hockey World Cup 2018

Netherlands have been crowned Hockey World Cup winners for a record eighth time after a crushing 6-0 win ended Ireland’s fairy tale tournament. Four goals in a seven minute spell around the half-time break earned the Dutch an emphatic victory.

Ireland had won new fans on their unlikely road to the final but found no answer to their opponents' intensity. Despite the defeat, Ireland is expected to climb up to 10th in the world rankings for the first time. Lidewij Welten, Kelly Jonker, Kitty van Male, Malou Pheninckx, Marloes Keetels and Caia van Maasakker all scored for the Dutch, who have extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 32 matches.

The top four goal scorers in the tournament all came from Alyson Annan's squad, with van Male topping the order with an incredible eight goals for the defending champions. The only other World Cup meeting between these two teams took place in the group stages of the 2002 tournament when the Dutch crushed Ireland 6-0 on their way to the final.

The period before and after the interval firmly settled the contest and ended any chance Ireland had of getting back into the game, as the Netherlands continued their rampant form to clinically seal the gold medal. Ireland kept the Dutch scoreless in the final quarter and could have snatched a consolation at the other end as they once again showed their grit and work-ethic, giving everything right up until the final whistle.