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What's the story?
Spanish badminton superstar Carolina Marin recently took to Instagram to post a selfie with her arch-rival and one of India's best shuttlers PV Sindhu, driving home the fact that rivalry stays on the court, and what matters more is the friendship that develops once they step off the court.
However, star men's singles shuttler HS Prannoy took this as an opportunity to troll the former World No 1.
In case you didn't know
The Spaniard clinched the gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics by beating PV Sindhu, but the Hyderabad-born shuttler rose to the occasion and extracted revenge when she got the better of Marin in the 2017 Indian Open.
Since last year, the two top-flight shuttlers have been at each other's throats and have produced moments of brilliance while facing off against each other. In the ongoing season of the Premier Badminton League Sindhu, who represents the Chennai Smashers, will in all likelihood face-off against Hyderabad Hunters Marin. This will be one of the most highly anticipated clashes after the latter's demolishing win over Saina Nehwal.
Heart of the Matter
The two-time World Champion Marin, who currently occupies fourth place in the rankings for women in the singles category, took the opportunity to pose for a selfie with PV Sindhu and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in late 2017. She posted this on Twitter only to see it go viral all over social media.
On this occasion, Marin's post with PV Sindhu on Instagram attracted a massive inflow of comments praising the Spaniard for her gesture that erased all questions of their rivalry off the court.
In a matter of fun and games, HS Prannoy, Sindhu's national teammate went another route, asking Marin to post the selfie she had taken with the 25-year-old.
This comment was also taken with a pinch of salt by the fans who went on to compliment Prannoy's style of play.
What's Next?
The Premier Badminton League will continue to host a galaxy of stars who will go head to head for the title. Carolina Marin's proficiency will be key for the Hyderabad Hunters while PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy will have a huge role to play for the Chennai Smashers and Ahmedabad Smash Masters respectively.
Author's Take
At a time when sports have given attention to huge rivalries on the field which affected relationships off the playing arena, it is indeed heart-warming to see that Marin and Sindhu, two of the world's best female shuttlers share an excellent relationship off the court.
