Olympics ki Aasha: How PV Sindhu kept herself motivated after missing out on gold at Rio Olympics

PV Sindhu is a well-known name in Indian badminton history. The 25-year-old has been in the limelight ever since she won the Silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Before PV Sindhu rose to prominence, Indian badminton produced greats like Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Aparna Popat, and Saina Nehwal, who all achieved international glory.

World champion PV Sindhu was upset at not winning a gold medal at the Rio Olympics. However, her coach Pullela Gopichand said that she did what no one had expected and motivated herself to perform better. Words of encouragement from her coach were all Sindhu needed at that time.

PV Sindhu is currently training at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad and she does her workout at Suchitra Academy to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Other Tokyo-bound badminton doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are also training in Gachibowli.

PV Sindhu is one of the strong medal hopefuls at the quadrennial event in Japan next month.

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PV Sindhu's gripping story of hunger for success

PV Sindhu comes from a family of athletes. Her father, PV Ramana, was a bronze-medalist in volleyball at the 1986 Asian Games and her mother, P. Vijaya, is a former national-level volleyball player. She and her family reside in Hyderabad, Telangana.

At the age of 9, PV Sindhu joined the Gopichand Badminton Academy. That's where she embarked on her journey of success in badminton. The academy is owned by Indian badminton stalwart and former All England champion Pullela Gopichand.

PV Sindhu received her first international breakthrough in 2012 when she won the gold medal at the Asian Junior Badminton Championships.

Two years later, in 2014, she took home the bronze medal at the 2013 World Badminton Championships. Her first world championship medal gave her new hope and started believing in herself.

In 2016, PV Sindhu won the Gold medal and a Silver in Team event and Singles respectively at the South Asian Games. That year, she qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics and clinched a historic silver medal in the women's singles.

At the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals, PV Sindhu became the first Indian badminton player to win a gold medal at the tournament.

PV Sindhu managed a historic feat at the 2019 World Badminton Championships by becoming the first shuttler from India to be crowned World Champion. She was desperate to win that gold medal.

PV Sindhu has been conferred with the Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Padma Shri, and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. The Rio Olympic medalist has been seeded sixth in the women's singles for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

25-year-old PV Sindhu is now completely focusing on Tokyo Olympics and hopes to top the victory podium with a gold medal. Her coach Pullela Gopichand believes she can be among the medal winners in badminton at the quadrennial event in Japan.

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Courtesy: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

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