When Sindhu took on Kidambi, it was a win-win

For India’s ace woman shuttler P.V. Sindhu, it was a different kind of ‘match experience’ when she was up against World No. 2 Kidambi Srikanth in an exhibition match at the Film Nagar Cultural Centre (FNCC) held to mark the formal opening of the air-conditioned facility at the indoor badminton hall on Monday.

And Sindhu did show glimpses of her renowned mastery — be it the drops or those big smashes —against someone like Srikanth, who is known to have the ability to switch gears on his day against anyone.

True to the script, there was no winner with Sindhu winning the first game, Srikanth second and when the scores were tied one-game all in the best-of-three games match, the chair umpire and ‘triple Olympian’ Vemuri Sudhakar called both the players and declared them as ‘joint-winners’.

Apparently, the organisers didn’t want any winner or loser as the match was specifically held to promote the cause of badminton at the FNCC, a regular venue for quite a few BAI tournaments.

Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand was impressed with the improved facilities at the centre and hoped that young talent in the vicinity would make optimum use of it to make it big in the world of badminton.

Srikanth and Sindhu, who were presented FNCC membership cards, were also pleased with the facilities and appreciated V. Chamundeswaranath and his team for their interest in the project.