Know PV Sindhu, the Olympic Silver Medalist

Know PV Sindhu, the Olympic Silver Medalist

 

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born to PV Ramana and P Vijaya – both former volleyball players - on July 5, 1995. In 2000, Ramana was awarded Arjuna Award for his sport. Though her parents played professional volleyball, Sindhu chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion. She eventually started playing badminton from the age of eight.

Sindhu first learned the basics of the sport with the guidance of Mehboob Ali at the badminton courts of Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications in Secunderabad. Soon after she joined Pullela Gopichand's badminton academy.

In the international circuit, Sindhu was a bronze medallist at the 2009 Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships held in Colombo. At the 2010 Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge, she won the silver medal in the singles category. Sindhu reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Junior World Badminton Championships that was held in Mexico. She was a team member in India's national team at the 2010 Uber Cup.

She broke into the Top 20 in the Badminton World Federation rankings released on September 21, 2012.

She won Malaysian open title in 2013, beating her opponent from Singapore Juan Gu by 21–17,17–21, 21–19. This was Sindhu's maiden Grand Prix Gold title.

In 2014, PV Sindhu reached the semifinal stage of Glasgow Commonwealth Games in the women's singles competition, where she eventually lost. PV Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian to win two back-to-back medals in the World Badminton Championships.

On August 10, 2013, Sindhu became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the World Championships.

On March 30, 2015, she received India's fourth highest civilian honour - the Padma Shri.

In January 2016, Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women’s singles title, beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the final. She had also won this tournament in 2013.

On August 18, 2016 in the Rio Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to reach the finals in the Badminton event of an Olympic games after beating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semi-finals. However, she lost the final to Carolina Marin of Spain 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 and received the silver medal. click here for more

 

Title: Know PV Sindhu, the Olympic Silver Medalist

Description: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born to PV Ramana and P Vijaya – both former volleyball players - on July 5, 1995. In 2000, Ramana was awarded Arjuna Award for his sport. Though her parents played professional volleyball, Sindhu chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion. She eventually started playing badminton from the age of eight.

Keywords:  PV Sindhu, First Indian Badminton player in Olympic final