CWG 2022: Michelle Li loses to PV Sindhu in straight games, giving her the women’s singles gold

On Monday in Birmingham, the star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Michelle Li of Canada 21-15, 21-13 to win the gold medal. Notably, this is Sindhu’s first gold medal in the quadrennial championship and her third consecutive singles medal at the CWG. Sindhu lost to fellow countrywoman Saina Nehwal in the Gold Coast gold medal match four years ago, earning her a bronze and a silver medal from the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, respectively.
The Hyderabadi shuttler has been in excellent form at CWG 2022, winning every one of her games, including the mixed team competition where India took home silver. Additionally, Sindhu improved her already remarkable head-to-head record against Li to 9-2 with the victory on Monday. In each of their three meetings this year, she had beaten the Canadian. Earlier, Yeo Jia Min of Singapore was defeated by Sindhu on the strength of her superior technical ability. This allowed Sindhu to advance to the final and guarantee herself at least a silver medal.
Even though the Hyderabadi woman, 27, had an excessive number of weapons at her disposal, getting to the summit fight required a lot of effort. Additionally, Sindhu’s win raised India’s total number of gold medals to 19, moving them beyond New Zealand to the fourth position on the CWG 2022 medal table. While New Zealand has also garnered 19 gold medals, their total medal count is 48 as opposed to India’s 56, which has caused them to lag. India hopes to win both major badminton matches on Monday when Lakshya Sen faces Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the men’s singles gold medal match later in the last day of the quadrennial showcase.