PV Sindhu enhanced her reputation as a big-tournament player by winning her second successive Olympic medal, never mind the colour of it. In these challenging pandemic times with not enough match practice going into the Olympic Games, Sindhu’s performance on Sunday, beating Chinese He Bing Jiao 21-13 21-15 in 53 minutes is worth its weight in gold. More so when the entire nation daily hoped to add to weightlifter Mirabai Chanu’s silver medal won more than a week ago.
Of course, Sindhu is India’s third medal winner at the Tokyo Games after Chanu’s silver and boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s assured medal, though the colour of it will be determined on Wednesday when she faces Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli in the women’s welterweight (64-69kg category) semifinal.
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The last tournament Sindhu played was the All England in March, a clear four months before entering the badminton court at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in Tokyo in an attempt to improve upon her silver medal performance in Rio five years ago. Sindhu, in winning India’s third Olympic medal in successive Olympics, is the only Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. In the process, she joined wrestler Sushil Kumar as the only Indians to win two Olympic medals.
India’s first quarterfinalist at the Olympic Games, Parupalli Kashyap, hailed the 26-year-old Sindhu’s latest feat as “fantastic performance”.
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Talking to News18.com from Hyderabad shortly after Sindhu’s win over the world No. 9 from China, Kashyap, who entered the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics, where his wife Saina Nehwal won bronze, said: “I have no words to express this feat because there were quite a lot of favourites. Am sure everyone’s mindset was pretty blank because they did not have badminton tournaments for many months and suddenly you are playing in the biggest of them all, the Olympics, where everyone wants to end up with a medal.”
The 34-year-old 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist added: “It’s brilliant that she ended up on the podium. It is great for Indian sport.”
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Former Olympian and chief national coach, Vimal Kumar, told this website from Bengaluru that the world No. 7 Sindhu’s bronze medal show “is very very precious”.
Vimal, Dronacharya awardee, said: “Sindhu is a top player. She is a World champion. To take a medal at the Olympic Games is very precious. Anything can happen in the Olympics. Look at Japan, they have the best players, yet they did not do well and they all succumbed under pressure in badminton. You have to cope with pressure. You have to give a lot of credit to Sindhu.”
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People may talk that Sindhu dropped down from silver in Rio 2016 to bronze in Tokyo 2020 held in 2021. But Kashyap and Kumar put things into perspective, saying that Sindhu was not expected to win a medal five years ago but the pressure was on her to win nothing less than a gold this time around.
Kashyap, an Arjuna awardee, said: “People talk about the colour of the medal Sindhu won. One has to understand that the last time five years ago, Sindhu was seeded ninth at the Games and was not expected to win a medal. She had a pre-quarterfinal match against Tai Tzu Ying that she won. Earlier in the Rio Games, she had a tough second match in the group stage against Canada’s Michelle Li before winning in three games. It was against Li that Sindhu lost to in the quarterfinals of the 2014 CWG.
“After so many medals and achievements, Sindhu was one of the favourites to win a gold or silver in Tokyo. But looking at the draw, you have to go past the likes of Akane Yamaguchi, Ratchanok Intanon, Tai Tzu Ying. Sindhu’s record against was not as if she was favourite to win. It was tough. It was not even like Kevin Cordon, the Gautemalan shuttler who surprised everyone by entering the men’s singles semifinals. Keeping those things in mind, it was different for Sindhu, who was going into her semifinal match against Tai Tzu Ying, having lost three consecutive matches in their previous three outings.”
Kashyap said that it was not correct to think that Sindhu has dropped from silver to bronze. “Am sure Sindhu is extremely happy with the bronze medal. Winning the World Championships (2019), everyone expects Sindhu to win gold. But, you look at the other players and their form coming into the event. Even in the World Championships that Sindhu won (in 2019 beating Tai Tzu Ying in the final), she was down first game and trailing in the second before winning some crazy points to win that match. Tai has dominated the badminton circuit. It is a great thing for Sindhu to finish on the podium. All these girls have been consistent. You will have to perform in that particular event. Even the slightest of things can disturb your performance. Sindhu kept things together and was brilliant.”
The 58-year-old Vimal endorsed Kashyap. “The colour of the medal doesn’t matter,” Vimal said. “In Rio, it was unexpected. Nobody was expecting anything from Sindhu. She was under no pressure. The silver medal just happened. In Tokyo, losing the semifinal match on Saturday could have a demoralising effect on Sindhu (losing 18-21 12-21). She was expected to win gold this time. You can understand the sort of pressure she faced. After that defeat, on Sunday, coming back and playing to her potential, her tactics were very good. I was very impressed with the way she played well at the net. She was controlling the rallies.
“The Chinese (He Bing Jiao) is a tricky player, though not as tricky as Tai. On Saturday, there wasn’t any glow on her face. She looked dull, did not execute what needed to be done. She did not play well at the net thinking Tai was good at the net. When facing such an opponent, you should plan and do what comes to you. You should have a clear plan rather than hoping that the opponent would do this and that. She gave too much respect to Tai. On Sunday, she was completely different. I could see the glow on her face. To do that under pressure was not easy. You must give her a lot of credit. That shows she has the mental strength. That is where our archers, shooters failed, not coping up with pressure and expectations. Sindhu did remarkably well.”
Sindhu’s last tournament before the Olympics was the All England, where she finished as a semifinalist. Vimal believed that Sindhu has it in her to win the All England. He said: “I agree that Sindhu is a big tournament player. She has five World Championships medals including gold in 2019, she has won the BWF year-end finals (2018), now two Olympic medals. I would like to see her win the All England title. It will be good to see that. She has another three to four years of good badminton in her. She just has to take care of her body and plan things properly. She can continue to do very well for India.”
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