It was a brave attempt by P.V. Sindhu to join shooter Abhinav Bindra as an individual Olympic gold medal-winning Indian, but found the two-time World champion Carolina Marin of Spain a hard nut to crack in an intense final at the Rio Olympics on Friday and had to settle for silver. In the process, Sindhu became the first woman from India to clinch an Olympic silver, and the second to win a badminton medal after Saina Nehwal’s bronze (London 2012). Fourth silver She followed in the foot-
steps of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Athens 2004), Sushil Kumar and Vijay Kumar (both London 2012), who won silver medals. In the gold medal clash, the 23-year-old Marin played fluently despite dropping her only game in the whole tournament, and registered a 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 victory.
The final was an epic battle that lasted an hour and 22 minutes and saw the momen-
tum swing both ways before the Spaniard prevailed. Gracious in defeat The 21-year-old Sindhu, who lifted the sagging spirits in the Indian camp with her outstanding campaign, quicly recovered from the disappointment of the defeat, walked around the net and congratulated the Spaniard with a warm hug. It was owing to sheer lack of experience at this level that the two-time World championship medalist was unable to conquer the champion across the net, even though she tried her best. Sindhu kept looking at her coach Dronacharya P. Gopi Chand time and again, perhaps, looking for a solution. She was not in tune with the shuttlest of the time, while an alert Marin pounced on everything. Spirited fightback After leading 19-16 in the first game, Marin wavered a bit and fell back against the spirited challenge of Sindhu, who made a reflex shot to clinch the game. However, the Spaniard gave her little room to manoeuvre in the next two games. It was, however, a wonderful learning experience for Sindhu on the big stage. After Sakshi Malik’s wrestling bronze, Sindhu’s silver was precious for India which had won six medals, including two silver, in London 2012.
steps of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Athens 2004), Sushil Kumar and Vijay Kumar (both London 2012), who won silver medals. In the gold medal clash, the 23-year-old Marin played fluently despite dropping her only game in the whole tournament, and registered a 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 victory.
The final was an epic battle that lasted an hour and 22 minutes and saw the momen-
tum swing both ways before the Spaniard prevailed. Gracious in defeat The 21-year-old Sindhu, who lifted the sagging spirits in the Indian camp with her outstanding campaign, quicly recovered from the disappointment of the defeat, walked around the net and congratulated the Spaniard with a warm hug. It was owing to sheer lack of experience at this level that the two-time World championship medalist was unable to conquer the champion across the net, even though she tried her best. Sindhu kept looking at her coach Dronacharya P. Gopi Chand time and again, perhaps, looking for a solution. She was not in tune with the shuttlest of the time, while an alert Marin pounced on everything. Spirited fightback After leading 19-16 in the first game, Marin wavered a bit and fell back against the spirited challenge of Sindhu, who made a reflex shot to clinch the game. However, the Spaniard gave her little room to manoeuvre in the next two games. It was, however, a wonderful learning experience for Sindhu on the big stage. After Sakshi Malik’s wrestling bronze, Sindhu’s silver was precious for India which had won six medals, including two silver, in London 2012.
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