By beating three top-10 players, in three days, on way to an Olympic silver medal, Sindhu announced to the world that she clearly belonged to the big league.
In a country starved of Olympic champions, P. V. Sindhu’s dream campaign in Rio pro-vided a whiff of fresh air. Came as it did, after trailblazer Saina Nehwal paid heavily for carrying a knee injury to the Games, Sindhu made the nation sit up and take note of her extraordinary prowess.
In the space of 18 hours, after Sakshi Malik ended India’s medal drought with a bronze in women’s wrestling, Sindhu made history by reaching the singles final. Up against two-time World champion and favourite Carolina Marin in the battle for the gold medal, Sindhu once again showed her never-say-die attitude by bouncing back from 16-19 to snatch the first game, but thereafter, it was the Spaniard who gave very little away.
BESIDES THE RESULT, what stood out during that week was the manner in which Sindhu played. Moving steadily towards becoming a more all-round player, Sindhu gave ample evidence of being hell-bent on shedding the tag of an ‘inconsistent’ performer.
Though Sindhu has beaten all the leading players at least twice, she is yet to stitch together a string of victories in a Super Series competition.
In Rio, match after match, Sindhu produced exemplary performances against higher-ranked rivals in the knockout phase. With the advantage of hindsight, it can safely be said that Sindhu’s three game victory over Canada’s Hong Kong-born Michelle Li to reach the pre-quarterfinal was the turning point. After all, Michelle beat Sindhu twice in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Though Sindhu had emerged stronger in their previous clash at the German Open in March, she was obviously not done with Michelle.
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Denne historien er fra September 3, 2016-utgaven av Sportstar.
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