Former India opener Virender Sehwag on Sunday congratulated star shuttler PV Sindhu after she defeated world champion Nozomi Okuhara in a thrilling summit clash to clinch the women's singles title at the Korea Open Super Series. The 22-year-old Indian saw off eighth seed Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 20-18 in an energy-sapping contest that lasted an hour and 23 minutes to exact sweet revenge of her heart-wrenching World Championship final loss to the Japanese at Glasgow last month.
Soon after Sindhu's victory, Sehwag took to Twitter to wish the shuttler. "At 22, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is a legend. What a player ! Congratulations on this stunning finals win.Most breathtaking badminton," Sehwag tweeted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar also congratulated Sindhu.
"Congratulations to @Pvsindhu1 on emerging victorious in the Korea Open Super Series. India is immensely proud of her accomplishment: PM," the PMO India wrote on its twitter handle.
"You tried, you failed, you believed and in the end you are an inspiration for the nation! A victory like none other," Tendulkar tweeted.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore also tweeted, saying: "What a brilliant game by @PVSindhu1! Congrats on winning #KoreaSS! India is proud of you! May the victories never stop coming!"
Another former India cricketer VVS Laxman said that Sindhu and Okuhara's rivalry was turning out to be one of the greatest of all time.
"#SindhuVsOkuhara is turning out to be 1 of the great sporting rivalries. Many congrats to @Pvsindhu1 for an exceptional victory in the finals."
Star boxer Vijender Singh also congratulated Sindhu, saying the entire country is proud of her achievement.
"She Believed She Could, So She Did. Congrats @Pvsindhu1 First Indian To Win. India Is Proud of You," Vijender said.
Expectations of an epic battle were raised after Sindhu and Okuhara set up a summit clash for the second time in little over three weeks since they had fought for an hour and 50 minutes in one of the greatest women's singles matches in the World Championships final last month.
Today's summit clash also turned out to be another electrifying contest as Sindhu displayed great stubbornness to lay claim to her third super series title of her career.
World no. 4 Sindhu, who had clinched the 2016 China Super Series Premier and India Open Super Series and Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold this season, thus dashed Okuhara's bid to win her third straight title after winning the Australian Open and the World Championships.
The win also helped Sindhu to level her head-to-head record against Okuhara, making it 4-4 in eight meetings.
(With PTI inputs)
