Here’s what her coach Pullela Gopichand says: “To maintain her focus, she did not touch her mobile phone for eight months, and neither did she eat sweet foods like ice-creams etc., because I told her not to.”
Some legends never tire in their pursuit of excellence, like India’s ‘Wonder Woman’ and Badminton Superstar PV Sindhu. She gave a super performance in the play-off for third place beating Chinese He Bingjiao convincingly in straight sets 21-13, 21-15 at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday to win a bronze.
What made her victory much sweeter was to win a medal after a disappointing encounter and losing her semi-final match to Chinese Taipei player Tai Tau-Ting in straight sets earlier in the day on Saturday.
She now becomes the first Indian woman to win two consecutive Olympic medals in badminton. Her first, a silver medal, was won at the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics.
Showing mixed emotions of disbelief and jubilation , the girl from Hyderabad says: “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I just want to be in the moment and I’m going to enjoy this. I’m super happy to be the first Indian woman athlete to win back to back medals”.
In hockey, after a medal drought of 49 years, the Indian boys are once again in the reckoning against Great Britain with a 3-1 victory in their quarter-final match on Sunday.
She asserts that winning this medal was much harder than the silver medal at Rio.
She hopes her performance at these games in Tokyo will inspire a lot more young people to take up the game and win laurels.
“I’m sure a lot of youngsters and others will get motivated hard to work hard and come up.”
Her level of dedication and the tremendous efforts that go into preparations at the Olympic level can be gauged from what her coach Pullela Gopichand has to say:
“To maintain her focus, she did not touch her mobile phone for eight months, and neither did she eat sweet foods like ice-creams etc. because I told her not to. This is the kind of dedication and sacrifice that makes champions”.
In Hyderabad, her hometown, her parents are thrilled. Her Father, PV Ramana says: “We are so proud of her. Her mother P Vijaya says she will make Biryani for her daughter when she gets back home.
Incidentally, this is India third consecutive win in the women’s badminton in the Olympics. Saina Nehwal was the first bronze medal at the London Olympics, 2012.
HOCKEY: In India celebrations are at a peak level, not just because of PV Sindhu’s second win, but also because of the fantastic performance of the India men’s hockey team.
After a medal drought of 49 years, the Indian boys are in the medal reckoning against Great Britain with a 3-1 victory in their quarter-final match on Sunday.
Their semi-final match is against reigning world champion Belgium is on Monday.
The winning goals were scored by Dilpreet (7 th min), Gurjant and Hardik (57 th min). Indian goalkeeper stood firm like a rock and pulled off many difficult saves.
Commenting on their fantastic victory Skipper, Manpreet says: “We are happy because we are reaching the semi-finals after a long-time. This tournament isn’t over yet, and we need to keep our feet on the ground and focus on the next match.”