Sakshi is the only Indian woman wrestler to have ever won a medal at the Olympic Games.
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Congratulating badminton star P V Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik, Goel said a few Indian sportspersons were unlucky to miss out on the podium in Rio but hoped the country will exceed the number of participating athletes four years from now in Tokyo.
Sindhu’s homecoming Monday included a ride through Hyderabad, the technology hub in southern India, in an open-top bus.
Although the 23-year-old debutant from Tripura missed a bronze medal by a whisker, she managed to perform Tsukahara (14.866) in her first attempt before successfully executing risky Produnova vault (15.266) in her second attempt in the women’s individual vault final at the Rio Olympics.
She put up a fearless fight before going down 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 to Spaniard Carolina and earned a silver, and a nation’s respect.
With Indian athletes Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu bringing laurels to the nation in the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Delhi Government on Saturday announced Rs one crore and Rs. two crores respectively for both the champions. Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar went into Rio as the first female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, and went onto the final to become the first Indian gymnast to do so.
This time we got two medals – in London we got six.
The duo’s lack of practice was evident when they made a first-round exit, and the women’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare also followed suit. In the final seconds, Sakshi produced a move that resulted in a three point gain, sealing the deal for her by putting her at 8-5 with Aisuluu.
The railway ministry had announced cash awards of Rs 1 cr, Rs 75 lakh and Rs 50 lakh to gold, silver and bronze medal winners and a further Rs 10 lakh for qualification.
Five countries won their first gold medal – Kosovo (Majlinda Kelmendi, judo); Fiji (men’s Rugby sevens); Singapore (Joseph Schooling, 100m butterfly); Puerto Rico (Monica Puig, tennis singles) and Vietnam (Xuan Vinh; 10m air pistol).
“I am really happy for Sakshi. That can only happen if we continue to give them support”, Tendulkar said, in an important message as our athletes faced flak until two days back for their disappointing performances, reported PTI.
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And now at last, silver at Rio, 2016. She bagged silver in the women’s singles at Iran Fair International Badminton Challenge in 2010.
