PV Sindhu's performance is worth its weight in gold

PV Sindhu's performance is worth its weight in gold

For people who have seen India struggle at the Olympics over the last two decades, it’s extremely hard to describe PV Sindhu’s performance in the semi final at Rio Olympics 2016. Here was a 21-year-old Indian girl dishing out badminton to an opponent ranked higher than her. This isn’t supposed to be a part of the script – this is the Olympics where Indians come, fight hard, come close to winning medals but agonizingly fall short. Not this time though– not with Sindhu in scintillating form and showcasing her talent to the world.

Indian sport fans over the years — especially at the Olympics — have come to expect a certain kind of performance, behavior and body language from Indian athletes at the highest level. But there was something different about Sindhu — she was different, aggressive, and assertive and went for the kill.

It’s strange and uncanny as badminton is a sport that is not taken seriously in India. Partly because after cricket it is one sport which most of us have played — be it in the compound of our society, in school or perhaps a bit at amateur level. But it’s a sport where there is a sense of discerning entitlement. It’s a sport where there is a sense of familiarity and perhaps badminton is one sport where most Indian fans were expecting a medal — not because of Sindhu but because of Saina Nehwal. Read more