RIO DE JANEIRO: Carolina Marin overhauled a brave Pusarla Sindhu in the women’s singles final on Friday to win Spain’s first badminton title and crush India’s hopes of a maiden gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

Marin, the world No. 1 and heavy favourite ahead of the Rio Games who celebrated almost every victorious point by shrieking at the top of her voice, fell face first on the court, then kneeled and wept after her hard-fought 2-1 victory.

The top seed, known as the “Rafa Nadal” of badminton in Spain for her tenacity and fierce left-handed game, lost the first game 21-19 but grabbed the second 21-12 before clinching gold with a 21-15 win in the decider over the 21-year-old Sindhu who was majestic in her Olympic debut.

The Spaniard was told off by the umpire on several occasions during the match because of the level of her screeching and was jeered by spectators at the Riocentro in a nerve-shredding final as she pushed the rules of good sportsmanship with constant stalling tactics.

Marin cruised to an early lead in the first game, displaying her superior experience by repeatedly rushing the net and slamming winners back toward an often befuddled Sindhu.

But the Indian settled down, chasing down smashes and drop shots and rallying to tie the game at 19. Then, in rapid succession, Sindhu took two points to stun the Spaniard, 21-19.

The second game saw an aggressive Marin win 21-12.

The third and final game was locked at 10-10 before Marin went 14-10 ahead.

It was a gap that Sindhu could not bridge as the Spaniard went to 20-15 before finishing off her Indian counterpart in an engrossing encounter.

The 21-year-old Sindhu’s hard-fought silver was India’s second medal of the Rio Olympics after female wrestler Sakshi Malik claimed bronze on Wednesday.

Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara won the bronze in a walkover after her Chinese opponent, the 2012 singles champion Li Xuerui, pulled out of their playoff with a serious knee injury.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2016