In a sport that is traditionally dominated by China, PV Sindhu has carved out a name for herself as one of the best badminton players in the world. Hailing from India, Sindhu made history when she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal in badminton at the 2016 Rio Games. Since then, she has gone on to win numerous other tournaments and is currently ranked fifth in the world by the Badminton World Federation. Here’s a look at her incredible journey.
PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu was born on July 5, 1995, in Hyderabad, India. Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a former badminton player who represented India at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Sindhu started playing badminton at the age of eight and soon began racking up wins at state-level tournaments. In 2010, she won the Under-19 singles title at the Sub-Junior National Championships. This was just a sign of things to come.
Sindhu made her international debut in 2011 at the BWF World Junior Championships and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. She continued to impress on the world stage in 2012 when she reached the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships and won a bronze medal at the London Olympics.
Since then, Sindhu has gone from strength to strength, winning tournament after tournament. In 2016, she caused a major upset by defeating reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China en route to clinching the silver medal atthe Rio Games. She followed this up with a gold medal at the 2017 BWF World Championships—becoming only the second Indian after Saina Nehwal to win this prestigious title. Sindhu is currently ranked fifth in the world and is widely considered one of the favourites to win a gold medal at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Conclusion:
PV Sindhu has come a long way from being a talented youngster with big dreams to becoming one of the best badminton players in the world. With her hard work and dedication, she has inspired millions of Indians and shown that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. There is no doubt that we will be seeing more great things from her in the future.
That’s all! You can also check out Abhinav Bindra – An Olympic Athlete and Indian Weightlifter Chanu Saikhom Mirabai: From Dropout to Olympian.
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