India’s star shuttler PV Sindhu spells out significance of her hard-earned bronze medal; thanks parents for sacrifices
PV Sindhu celebrates a point vs China’s He Bing Jia. Pic/AFP
Reigning world champion shuttler PV Sindhu on Sunday became only the second Indian and the country’s first woman to win two Olympic medals, securing a bronze after a straight-games win over World No. 9 He Bing Jiao of China in the women’s singles third-place play-off here.
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Sindhu, who has returned with medals from each of the big-ticket events such as the Commonwealth and Asian Games and the BWF World Tour Finals in the last five years, outwitted eighth-seed Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to add a bronze to the silver she won at the 2016 Rio Games.
“I’m on cloud nine. I’m going to enjoy this moment. My family [parents] have worked hard for me and put in a lot of sacrifices. I’m thankful. And my sponsors have given me their best so I’d like to thank them and enjoy the moment,” Sindhu, 26, said after the match.
“It makes me feel really happy because I’ve worked hard for so many years. I had a lot of emotions going through me—should I be happy that I won bronze or sad that I lost the opportunity to play in the final? But overall, I had to close off my emotions for this one match and give it my best, my all and think about the emotions. I’m really happy and I think I’ve done really well. It’s a proud moment getting a medal for my country,” she added.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals, following up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with a silver at the 2012 London edition.
Sindhu also became only the fourth player to win two consecutive medals in women’s singles in Olympic history. Up against an opponent, who had beaten her nine times so far in their last 15 meetings, Sindhu showed great determination to outplay Bing Jiao with her aggression to scoop India’s third medal at Tokyo.
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