#2 Badminton
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PV Sindhu’s silver medal victory at the Rio Olympics made her the first woman Indian athlete to ever win the silver medal at the Olympic Games. But that said, there were not many positives to come out from the spectacle in Brazil for Indian badminton.
The favourite to win a medal in Rio was always Saina Nehwal but the shuttler suffered a knee injury just days ahead of the Games and that affected her performance as she was knocked out in the preliminary stages. Whereas, the doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponappa and Jwala Gutta was also disappointing as they ended up with the same fate.
In the men’s competition, Srikanth Kidambi impressed with his quarterfinal finish but the doubles pairing of Manu Attri and BS Reddy could not get past the group stages. Therefore, it is more than important for the Indian shuttlers to focus on their game to make the required improvements for the event in four years’ time in Japan.
The sport could provide a haul of medals in Tokyo if the development of players is bang on track, but the women’s doubles competition may not have much to provide to India’s medal chances in Tokyo. But Nehwal, Sindhu, Kidambi will be ready for the event and to take the biggest prize in Tokyo.
