PV Sindhu scripts history, wins bronze in Tokyo 2020

PV Sindhu’s love for the big stage is well known and Sunday's bronze medal match was yet another testimony to the insatiable hunger and fighting spirit that underlines her career.

On match point, PV Sindhu’s coach Park Tae-Sang pumped both his fists and let out a sharp cry behind his white mask. Sindhu joined him with a scream, wagging her index finger to indicate that she was one point away from winning yet another Olympic medal. A few seconds later, it happened. Sindhu had beaten China’s He Bingjiao 21-13, 21-15 and created history in becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals and only the second Indian to win two individual medals at the Olympics after wrestler Sushil Kumar.

PV Sindhu became India's only woman to win two Olympics medals. (Getty Images)

Sindhu’s love for the big stage is well known and Sunday's bronze medal match was yet another testimony to the insatiable hunger and fighting spirit that underlines her career.

For India, it was the third medal here after the silver medal heroics of Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting, and boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s incredible run to the semifinals, that has assured her at least a bronze. This is also the first time that three Indian women have won medals in an Olympic Games and the list can still grow - with Vinesh Phogat and her fellow wrestlers yet to take the stage - to make it an Olympics to remember for Indian women athletes.

Soon after the win, Sindhu raised her racquet to the vociferous Indian media at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza that was cheering for her from the stands. All through the competition Sindhu has spoken about how she was only focused on the next match - PV that was crucial today, coming a day after she was blanked out by Tai Tzu Ying, the eventual silver medallist (China's Chen Yufei won gold), in the semis. It was clear from the start that the loss had not rattled Sindhu. She brought her A game against He Bingjiao, attacking boldly with cross court shots and smashes.

"It makes me feel really happy because I've worked hard for so many years. I had a lot of emotions going through me... should I be happy that I won bronze or sad that I lost the opportunity to play in the final? But overall, I had to close off my emotions for this one match and give it my best," a breathless and beaming Sindhu said after the match. "I'm really happy and I think I've done really well. It's a proud moment getting a medal for my country. I'm going to enjoy this moment."

The 26-year-old reigning world champion was one of the strongest contenders to win a gold medal here. Her defeat on Saturday against a superior Ying had crushed her ambition to better the silver she had won in the Rio Olympics. After that loss, what stared at her was an even tougher proposition. To recover both mentally and physically and win against the crafty He Bingjiao in less than 24 hours. With the added pressure that for Sindhu, who played exceptional badminton throughout the tournament, returning empty handed would have been anti-climactic. Before her defeat to Tai Tzu, she had not dropped a single game in her five matches.

That emotion was there in the open in the bronze medal match, where Sindhu celebrated every point with a scream. She was fierce on court.

"It was a fresh game altogether, we both had losses yesterday and came back. For us, it was very important in getting a medal for the country and at the Olympics. It's not easy. It's a big thing. There were really long rallies, but I had to be patient and calm. Even though I was leading, I did not relax,” Sindhu said.

Her performance was a heady cocktail of power and pace. Sindhu sprinted through the opening game and returned for the second even more attacking and fluent. Bingjiao, with her net-play, tried to keep up with her till the interval of the second game, but Sindhu was all over her after that, trapping her to the back of the court with steeply angled cross court shots and a barrage of smashes. As she neared match point, Park had to repeatedly exhort a fired-up Sindhu to calm down.

In the end, with a powerful, wristy cross court shot, Sindhu closed the game, raised both arms above her and screamed with joy.