Sindhu not only became the fifth woman athlete to win an individual medal for India but will also go down in the history books as the first individual female athlete to win a silver at Olympics.
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“When I was playing in the semi-finals I was like ‘No, I’m not going to get bronze”, said Sindhu, who has two third-place finishes at the world championships to her name.
Sindhu’s silver medal comes after Sakshi Malik won the Bronze in 48-kg freestyle wrestling event.
A recipient of Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, Sindhu has been coached by Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand – a former world number four in men’s badminton and victor of the 2001 All England Badminton Championships.
Spanish two-time defending world badminton champion Carolina Marin completed her mission at the Rio Olympics on Friday, coming from a game down in the women’s singles final to defeat India’s V. Sindhu Pusarla 19-21, 21-12, 21-15. He was Saina Nehwal’s coach when the Hyderabadi won the bronze medal in London 2012 and with this latest success, he underlined his credentials as a master in grooming champions. He also said that the badminton star was denied her favorite food items like ice cream and yogult due to strict dieting schedules.
“PV SINDHU Silver Princess?”, De wrote on Thursday and soon she tried to salvage the situation by two new tweets.
PV Sindhu fought in the final match till the last set point against her opponent Carolina Marine from Spain. I’m on Cloud Nine.
The Spaniard started with a vengeance in the second game, smashing her way to an 11-2 lead.
The 21-year-old played down the effects of her opponents’ on-court vocal exercises.
Gopichand said “It’s a one in a lifetime or one in a million times or, for us, one in a billion times that somebody gets an opportunity to stand on that (medal) podium and for someone like me it was a part of the journey as well”.
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Congratulating Sindhu for bagging the silver medal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh. “Parents have also made so many sacrifices”. “I will really work hard for it”. It’s a win in the Olympics. I did not feel she’s world number one.
