‘Sindhu is the best India has ever had’ – H.S.Prannoy hails huge result for Indian badminton

PV Sindhu won her second Olympic medal on Sunday, thanks to a sublime performance in the bronze medal play-off against China’s He Bing Jiao to win 21-13, 21-15 at Tokyo 2020.

The 26-year-old had won her first Olympic medal at Rio 2016, a silver, and is the first female athlete from India to have won consecutive Olympic medals.

India badminton player H.S.Prannoy stated that while the scoreline suggests that it was a convincing win over the Chinese shuttler, Sindhu had to dig deep to get over the line. He also pointed out that it isn’t easy to play in a bronze medal play-off, especially after losing in the semi-finals just over 24 hours before.

“I think she was pretty much determined to win this. I think that attitude was pretty clear the way she was playing. It looked like a convincing win, but it was a very hard fought win. The energy level was not low. It was on a very high note. It is really tough when you play a bronze medal match but then it's the Olympics. You know the entire country is backing you up and she badly needed the medal,” Prannoy told Olympics.com.

Sindhu has been a consistent performer in the badminton circuit for the last several years and Prannoy hailed her attitude where she always steps up in big competitions.

“I think it's a huge achievement and totally not easy to perform at that level over a span of five-to-six years. You're coming back and playing again, it is not at all easy. I think she has not shown it just once, but she has shown it in the last seven-to-eight years on the consistency graph. She has always been able to perform at the big tournaments,” he mentioned.

Prannoy, who won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as part of the mixed team, believes that Sindhu winning yet another medal at the Olympics would further boost the profile of the sport in India.

“I think it's a very big result for the Indian badminton. Younger kids would be very much inspired after her performance. After Rio 2016 also there was a huge uplift, a lot of kids and girls started playing. I hope a lot of kids start to play and believe that you can make it a profession and win medals like Sindhu. Performances like these can enlighten us and we can get more champions,” she spoke on the impact Sindhu’s win would have in India.

Prannoy went on to claim that Sindhu, who is the current world champion, is the ‘best India has ever had’ and that the only missing trophy is the All England Open, which she hasn’t won yet in her career.

“I think she is the best we have ever had. We don't have so many (players) on the list who have won World Championships and Olympic medals. Probably only All England is missing from her cabinet. Until now, we didn't have anyone who has achieved so much,” feels the 29-year-old.