PV Sindhu became India’s first woman silver medallist by claiming the coveted medal in the badminton event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Seeded ninth, she was drawn in Group M. where she defeated Hungary’s Laura Sarosi and Canada’s Michelle Li. This put her into a Round of 16 clash against Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying and Sindhu came out on top.
Sindhu next confronted second seeded Chinese opponent Wang Yihan in the quarter finals and came out victorious in a fiercely contested clash. She might have won in straight games, but the scoreline of 22-20. 21-19 showed how close the encounter was. In the semi-final against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, Sindhu won the first set 21-19 and eased through the second set 21-10 to clinch the match in straight games.
She won the first game against Spaniard Carolina Marin 21-19 in the final as well, but went down in 83 minutes as Marin bounced back to win the next two games 21-12, 21-15.
Did you know?
Including Sindhu, seven Indian women have won a medal at the Olympics. The six others are weightlifters Kamam Malleswari and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, badminton player Saina Nehwal, boxers Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain, and wrestler Sakshi Malik.
As Malleswari, Nehwal, Kom and Malik – Indian women who won their medals before Sindhu-won bronze medals in their respective sports. Sindhu was the first Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympics. She was joined by Chanu, who clinched silver at Tokyo 2020.
Saina Nehwal’s bronze in 2012 and Sindhu’s silver and bronze in 2016 and 2020 implies that India have now won three medals in badminton so far, putting the country ninth in the overall medals tally in badminton at the Olympics.
With her bronze at Tokyo 2020, Sindhu became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian to win two medals at individual events at the Olympics.
Picture Credit : Google
