BWF World Tour | PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma rewarded by BAI for their performances
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Badminton Association of India has announced a cash reward of 10 lakh rupees for PV Sindhu and 3 lakh rupees for Sameer Verma for their performances at the recently concluded Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals. Sindhu became the first women’s single player from India to win the title.
PV Sindhu scripted history when she won the 2018 Badminton World Federation(BWF) World Tour Finals, defeating her Japanese opponent Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in straight games. It may as well go down as one of the best victories of her career, as en route her victory she defeated some of the best contemporary women’s singles players like Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi and Zhang Beiwen. The performance also earned her a reward of 10 lakh rupees from the Badminton Association of India(BAI).
“It’s a great year-ending for Indian badminton. Sindhu winning the Tours Final and defeating the best players to achieve the historic feat indicates the leap Indian badminton has taken. I congratulate both Sindhu and Sameer on behalf of entire Badminton Association of India,” BAI President, Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The only other Indian in the fray at the tournament was a surprise entry Sameer Verma who yet again managed to surprise everyone by almost reaching the finals of the men’s singles event. But, he had to do with a semifinal finish as he lost the match 21-14, 22-10, 21-17 to his Chinese opponent Shi Yuqi in a tight contest that went down to the wire. He too was rewarded for his performance and the BAI announced a cash prize of three lakh rupees for the player.
“Sindhu beating World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi, Ratchanok Inthanon and Nozomi Okuhara is indeed commendable and Sameer reaching the semi-final and losing close to the World No 2 Shi Yuqi on his debut says a lot about our shuttlers abilities. It is a great occasion for all of us to celebrate,” he said.
