The 21-year-old player won 21-19 21-10 over Japanese world number three Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals on Thursday after ousting world number two Wang Yihan of China 22-20, 21-19 in the quarterfinals.
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Famed for her tenacity and aggressive left-handed game, the top-seeded Marin closed out a 19-21 21-12 21-15 victory over the 21-year-old Sindhu, who has excelled on her Olympic debut. Afterwards when Marin walked off the court leaving her racket on the ground, Sindhu picked it up and put it in a proper place. Of course, in a match one should lose and one should win, and maybe it was just her’s to win today. It was a good week for me, because I had not thought that I would come to the finals and get a silver medal at the Olympics.
Sindhu was born on July 5, 1995, in Hyderabad and the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are all geared up to welcome India’s pride in Rio, when she returns home. She takes the third set 21/15 and could fall to her knees, crying of happiness by her fantastic achievement – the first Spaniard and European to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s singles.
Announcing cash awards for both Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand, Badminton Association of India (BAI) President Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta said, “I congratulate her for this historical achievement and bringing laurels for India”. She recorganised her game and executed her strokes with power and levelled the score at 10-10 all after 13 minutes of play. With Sindhu’s performance in these games, India now has another badminton star.
Voicing his feelings afterwards, a relieved Fu said: “I think we were under a lot of pressure playing this match”. But in the battle of supremacy, Carolina prevailed over Sindhu in the last game and won it 21-15.
Calling the silver medal feat as “the most precious jewel in the crown of Mother India”, Sonia said: “Her silver medal is the most precious jewel in the crown of Mother India today and she has set examples for generation to come”.
“I was really prepared for everything because I knew it would happen”.
“I m a little Spaniard that broke the Asian world”.
Though hoping for a gold, P.V. Ramana and P. Vijaya were elated that their daughter created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to win a silver at Olympics.
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The highlight of Sindhu’s Rio journey was the win over Chinese world No. 2 Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals.
