Shuttler P.V. Sindhu on Sunday became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She defeated China’s He Bing Jiao in the bronze medal match of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Sindhu defeated Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 in the bronze medal match that lasted for 52 minutes. Sindhu had earlier returned with a silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016. The 26-year-old Sindhu is now just the second Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals. Wrestler Sushil Kumar also has two medals as he returned with a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics 2008 and a silver at the London Olympics 2012.
In the match between Sindhu and Bing Jiao, the former was dominant in the first game and she did not give her opponent any chance, winning it 21-13.Continuing from where she left off, Sindhu did not relent, and in the end, she wrapped up the match in straight games.
Sindhu missed out on a chance to win gold or silver as she lost her semifinal match on Saturday against Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying.
Tzu-Ying defeated Sindhu 21-18, 21-12 in the semifinals. On Friday, Sindhu had stormed into the semi-finals of the women’s singles event after defeating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Sindhu, after she won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. PM Modi took to twitter to heap praise on the ace shuttler, calling her India’s pride.
“We are all elated by the stellar performance by @Pvsindhu1. Congratulations to her on winning the Bronze at @Tokyo2020. She is India’s pride and one of our most outstanding Olympians. #Tokyo2020,” PM Modi tweeted.
Sindhu was among the athletes who had spoken to the prime minister during a virtual interaction with the Olympic-bound athletes, that was held just before the Indian contingent had left for the Games. PM Modi had spoken to Sindhu about her preparations and also lauded her parents for the sacrifices they had put in to help Sindhu become a champion shuttler.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind also took to Twitter to congratulate Sindhu. “P.V. Sindhu becomes the first Indian woman to win medals in two Olympic games. She has set a new yardstick of consistency, dedication and excellence. My heartiest congratulations to her for bringing glory to India,” was tweeted by the President of India twitter handle.