If Saina Nehwal re-ignited the fire of badminton in India as the first decade of the 21st century came to a close, PV Sindhu has certainly kept the fire burning.?She has clearly earned the mantle of being the Queen of Indian badminton and her success speaks for her.
But Sindhu's journey, like most sportspersons, begins from an early age. It seemed destiny that she went into sports because it was pretty much in her genes. Her parents both played volleyball and her father Ramana was part of the Indian volleyball team that won the bronze medal at the 1986 Asian Games. So a sporting influence was pretty much there from an early age.?
Despite the volleyball influence, Sindhu took up badminton because she was inspired by Pullela Gopichand, who won the All England Open in 2001. The man would later become her coach. At the age of 8, she began playing and the first drops in an ocean of success were created. After a lot of success at the U-10 and U-13 levels, she won the U-14 gold at the National Games. The ripples were visible, the wave was yet to come.?
2009 saw her win gold at the Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships and the following year made it to the quarters of the Junior World Badminton Championships. In 2011, she won a double bronze at the Asian Junior Championships and followed it up with a gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games. Another gold followed at the Asian Junior Championships in 2012.?
In 2013, Sindhu won her first World Championship medal when she secured bronze. 2014 was a good year for her as the won bronze at the Uber Cup, World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships. Still yet to turn 20, Sindhu was carving out her own legacy. But the best was yet to come.?
2016 was the year of reckoning for Sindhu. She won a gold and silver at South Asian Games, an Uber Cup bronze followed by the icing on the cake - an Olympic silver medal. This pretty much sealed her position as one of the best players in the world.?
She was not done though. The World Championship narrowly evaded her as she settled for silver in 2017. 2018 saw a bunch of medals as she won another World Championship silver, a silver in Asian Games along with a gold and silver at Commonwealth games.?
Then came the crowning moment when she won the World Championship gold in 2019. Finally, after so many attempts, she had won the most elusive title. She was officially the Queen of the Court.?
At the Olympics in 2021, she clinched bronze and that was her 2nd Olympic medal.?
Her journey is far from over. When one factors in that she has won 15 additional titles to her haul of international medals, it just shows you how good she is. Now her dream is to win an Olympics gold. The way she is going, there is no reason why she cannot. But regardless of that, her place in badminton history as one of the greats has already been sealed.?
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