PV Sindhu created history on Sunday as she became the first Indian woman to win 2 Individual Olympic medals, when she defeated He Bingjiao of China 21- 13, 21-15 in the Bronze Medal playoff.
Sindhu had earlier won the Silver Meda at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and is now the only fourth woman in the history of the game to have won a second consecutive medal in Badminton.
Sindhu started off in an aggressive manner, playing from the back of the court and not letting her opponent settle down. Sindhu, still disappointed from the semifinal loss 24 hours earlier, clearly looked more focussed and determined to take the match to the opponent in the early stages and this paid off as she raced into an early lead. A comfortable 21-13 win in the opening game for Sindhu, but the second game was a lot closer than the score line suggests. Especially, post the mid-game interval He Bingjiao tried to put up some stiff resistance but it wasn’t quite to be.
An elated Sindhu embracing her coach Park Tae Sang, and exulting in delight.
Soon after her Olympic win, appreciation poured out for Sindhu from across the country. President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur among several others congratulated her on her amazing feat at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sindhu later took on to social media and thanked everyone for their support. “I still have no words to describe the feeling of holding an Olympic medal, it’s always a dream come true each time. It’s never just been a solo journey for me to get where I am, I am incredibly thankful to the people in my life who have continuously been with me through it all. I cannot thank everyone, but please know that I am so incredibly thankful and grateful for each and every person who has been there with me and the journey does not stop here!” she posted.
Earlier Mirabai Chanu had won the Silver medal in Women’s 49kg Weightlifting. With Sindhu’s win India increased the medal tally to 2 and one more assured medal from Lovlina Borgohain as she entered the semi-finals in Boxing Welterweight. She will be playing her semi-final match against B. Surmeneli of Turkey on August 4th.
