Tokyo Olympics: It's time for Indian badminton to cement its legacy

PV Sindhu - The Golden Girl heading into the Tokyo Olympics

PV Sindhu - Can she be India's 'Golden Girl' at Tokyo Olympics

As one of India's Tokyo Olympic hopefuls, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has come a long way. From the 'giant killer' who shocked Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China at the tender age of 17, to becoming India's first player to win a World Championship.

The 25-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad has maintained a crystal clear focus on her goal of making it big in badminton. PV Sindhu achieved one milestone after another. She is the first Indian to win consecutive medals at the World Championships since 2013 and make it to the Asian Games badminton finals.

The best performance by an Indian prior to that was by Syed Modi, who clinched a bronze medal in the men's singles at the Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1982.

However, her most glorious moments came in 2016 and 2019. Defeating Nozomi Okuhara, Sindhu became the first Indian to cruise into the finals of any individual badminton event at the Olympics. Although she lost the gold to Carolina Marin of Spain, she went down fighting.

Sindhu ticked another box by winning a historic gold at the BWF World Championships in 2019, becoming the first Indian ever to achieve this feat at the senior level. Can PV Sindhu create history at the Tokyo Olympics next?