Tokyo, August 1

Reigning world champion PV Sindhu on Sunday became only the second Indian and the country’s first woman to win two Olympics medals, securing a bronze after a straight-game win over world No. 9 He Bing Jiao of China in the badminton women’s singles third-place play-off here.

Sindhu, who has returned with medals from each of the big-ticket events in the last five years, outwitted eighth seed Bing Jiao 21-13 21-15 to add a bronze to the silver she had secured at the 2016 Rio Games. “It makes me feel really happy because I’ve worked hard for so many years,” Sindhu said.

“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?,” the 26-year-old added. “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.”

Wrestler Sushil Kumar was the first Indian to win two Olympics 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 badminton singles at the Olympics.

Up against an opponent, who had beaten her nine times so far in the last 15 meetings, Sindhu showed great determination to outplay Bing Jiao with her aggression to scoop India’s third medal at Tokyo.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has already gone back after collecting a silver, while boxer Lovlina Borgohain is assured of at least a bronze so far.

China reclaims title

In a fight to the death with women’s singles world No. 1 Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei, China’s Chen Yufei won her country its second badminton gold medal at the Tokyo Games. World No. 2 Chen Yufei won 21-18 19-21 21-18. — Agencies

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. PV Sindhu

Many congratulations on winning the bronze medal. Very few athletes from our nation have been fortunate enough to achieve what you have achieved. In fact, most sporting careers all over the world end without an Olympic medal, even after years and years spent obsessing over winning the shiny little round object. This alone shows just how rare it is to accomplish such a feat, and just how insane one has to be to even dream of it. — Abhinav Bindra, India’s lone individual Olympics gold medallist

Congratulations to our awesome Sindhu on her 2nd successive medal. While it is all due to the hard work by her and the team of coaches and support staff, I also want to express my gratitude to the support of Sports Minsitry, Indian Government, SAI and BAI. — Pullela Gopichand, chief national badminton coach

2016 (silver) & 2020 (bronze). What an achievement to win 2 Olympic medals for (India) @Pvsindhu1! You have made the whole nation very very proud. — Sachin Tendulkar, cricket legend