It was an exhilarating and sapping finals. The ladies on either side of the net refused to give up. Eventually one had to. On August 19, 2016, P.V. Sindhu ended up with the silver medal while friend-cum-foe Carolina Marin became Olympic champion after a three-set duel. Sindhu has been there and seen that. The gold is what she wants, as athletes across the world prepare for the Paris Games. The bitter taste of ending on the losing side has stayed with her all these years, and it has made her hungry for gold.
Sindhu is the most-followed Indian badminton star with 3.1 million followers on X, the same number on Facebook and by close to 100 million Indians on television. The ace does not mention anywhere in her bio that she has won two Olympic medals—the silver at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo 2020. Winning even one Olympic medal would make many athletes mention it in ALL CAPS, but not Sindhu. Because her quest for the elusive Olympic gold is still on. As if it is now or never for the 28-year-old, though badminton has had older champions.
Sindhu was 20 when she won her silver in 2016; she has five World Championship medals, including a gold. Yet, the Olympic gold is the biggest miss in her trophy cabinet.
Of course, becoming a champion and staying at the top is not easy. Sindhu suffered a stress fracture on her left ankle which kept her out of the year-ending BWF finals in 2023. She was injured during the Commonwealth Games in August even though she persevered to win the title. “Her doctor advised her to take some more time, so that she recovers completely ahead of the new season,” said her father, P.V. Ramanna.
Denne historien er fra February 04, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra February 04, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
