Champion shuttler P.V. Sindhu returned home on Wednesday afternoon to a rousing reception accorded by the State Government at the Hyderabad Airport.

Telangana Sports Minister V. Srinivas Goud, SATS chairman A. Venkateshwar Reddy, Sports Authority of Telangana State VC & MD Srinivas Raju were among those present to receive the star performer fresh from her bronze medal-winning exploits at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I am honoured to be welcomed in this manner. I assure you that I will continue to work harder and win many more laurels,” Sindhu said.

“It is always a great feeling to be back in my hometown where the warmth and affection is something unique.  Yes, looking forward to meeting some of my friends and relatives whom I have missed in the last few weeks because of the training and also sharing my moment of joy with them,” she said.

Sindhu also thanked the Police Department ( Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar was also present at the airport) for taking so much pains during the pandemic to ensure the citizens’ safety.

“My special and sincere thanks to the State Government, especially to Srinivas Goud Sir and Srinivas Raju sir for immediately accepting my request to train at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium since February for the Tokyo Olympics,” she said.

Sindhu was accompanied by her parents P.V. Ramana, P. Vijaya and the coach Park Tae Sang. Importantly, Sindhu’s trainer Srikanth Verma who worked so hard with her at the Suchitra Academy to ensure opimum fitness, was also present.

Sports Minister Srinivas Goud reasserted that every performing athlete will be honoured and that the Government is committed to taking sports promotion to a new level in the coming days once the new Sports Policy is finalised.

"The Policy will also take care of the untiring efforts of the coaches and the trainers," he said. “We are all proud of Sindhu’s achievement and wish her many more successes at the highest level. Winning two Olympic medals is not an ordinary feat,” he said.

"She brought name and fame to the Telugu-speaking States with her achievements. We were also hoping for the gold. Anyhow, I am 100 per cent sure she will win the gold in the next Olympics," the Minister said.

"We are all proud of the parents of Sindhu for sacrificing so much to mould Sindhu into a champion shuttler," he said.