India’s PV Sindhu defeated He Bing Jiao of China to win the women’s singles bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics. With this win, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals. Sindhu dominated Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 as she shook off the disappointment of losing the semi-final to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying on Saturday. She had won silver at Rio Olympics in 2016 after losing to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the final. Besides Sindhu, wrestler Sushil Kumar is the only other Indian athlete to win two individual medals at the Olympic Games.
Having suffered a heartbreaking loss to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals in Saturday, Sindhu came out with purpose on Sunday and stamped her authority in the bronze medal match, right from the start. She sped to a 4-0 lead, putting down an early marker. He Bing Jiao clawed her way back to make it 5-5 and then made it 6-5 to lead for the first time in the match.
Sindhu roared back to life, leaving her Chinese opponent scrambling around the court. Some more authoritative shots put the Indian 11-8 ahead at the mid-game interval of the first game. Not only were Sindhu’s dominant smashes causing problems for He Bing Jiao but her ability to retrieve made sure that the Chinese had to work doubly hard to win points.
He Bing Jiao showed some fight to make it 11-11 but Sindhu once again upped the ante and started to pull away. The Chinese tried to stay in touch but Sindhu was having none of it. The Indian star made it 19-15 to before winning two more consecutive points to finish things off.
With this, Sindhu becomes the first Indian woman to win two individual medals at Olympics. She has set a new yardstick of consistency, dedication and excellence. My heartiest congratulations to her for bringing glory to India,” tweeted President Ram Nath Kovind congratulating the shuttler.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals, following up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with silver at the London edition. “My family worked hard for me & put in a lot of effort so I’m very thankful. Indian fans showed me their love and support and I’m very thankful to each and everyone of them. There were really long rallies but I had to be patient and calm. Even though I was leading, I didn’t relax,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the ace shuttler on her win tweeting, “She is India’s pride and one of our most outstanding Olympians.”
