After going into the last four days of the 2016 Rio Olympics without a spot on the medal tally, India have roared back like a wounded tigress. And leading the charge is Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, who will play Carolina Marin of Spain in the women’s badminton singles gold medal match on Friday (7:30pm IST).
The 21-year-old Sindhu has always been known as a giant killer, but she has never quite lived up to the tag as suitably as she has done over this week.
The last 24 hours have been incredible for Indians at the Olympics, as four girls buoyed the national spirit that had been made listless by the barrenness of the medal cabinet – Aditi Ashok, who surged to pole position more than once through Day 2 of the golf event, wrestler Sakshi Malik, who came up with an incredible last second victory to win bronze, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was invincible in the initial rounds until a heartbreaking injury saw her being stretchered off the mat, and Sindhu.
But Sindhu’s journey started a lot earlier than that of the other three. At Rio 2016, Sindhu has been playing since more than a week, qualifying from her group easily. She dropped only one game in those first two matches, against World No. 20 Michelle Li of Canada. Hungarian Laura Sarosi was brushed aside with disdain 21-8, 21-9.
A reputation built on upsetting higher-ranked players
However, the draw Sindhu was placed in looked impossible to break through. Three of the top 8 ranked players in the world were on her side of the draw. For the medal predictors, with Saina’s early exit and Sindhu’s place in the draw, medal hopes had already been waved goodbye.
However, this is a situation Sindhu has been in many times – having to save the Indian contingent’s face with all other players knocked out. It is by doing precisely this over the years, playing under the shadow of Saina Nehwal, that Sindhu has slowly developed the reputation of being a slayer of higher ranked opponents.
Saina’s honour roll may far outshine Sindhu’s at the moment, but Sindhu’s record against the Chinese, a wall that Saina has found hard to penetrate, is a testament to her big-match ability. Against China’s Li Xuerui, Rio 2016 semifinalist and one of the biggest names on the circuit over the years, Sindhu has a 2-3 head to head record; Saina’s is 2-12.
The World No. 10 needed to string together a series of giant-killing victories to reach the medal stages in Rio too. World No. 8 Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei was up in the round of 16, against whom Sindhu had a 2-4 head-to-head record. Sindhu dominated Tai throughout their encounter, taking the match 21-13, 21-15 in 40 minutes.
Up next would be World No. 2 Wang Yihan of China, an even tougher opponent. Sindhu grew in stature in the quarterfinal against Yihan, coming from behind several times in an incredible match which went in her favour 22-20, 21-19. She collapsed on the ground after the match, and understandably so.
This had probably been the most taxing match of her career, as well as her greatest conquest. Suddenly, nobody could not take notice of her anymore. She seemed to be able to reach everything, and her smashes seemed to be able to burn through anything.
When a series of 11 points convinced India that an Olympics gold is nigh
Against World No. 6 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semifinal, the same Sindhu that we had seen collapsing onto the ground after the titanic quarterfinal seemed to have just gotten up and started serving again. She took the lead at the onset of the match, with a smart combination of smashes and drop shots. The first game went her way 21-19.
Okuhara tried to play a more aggressive second game, increasingly approaching the net to capitalise on Sindhu’s defence – the one part of her game that had been considered relatively weak before. Perhaps Okuhara, like many people, did not know the changes Sindhu’s game has gone through in the last year, but such a ploy would not work anymore. Sindhu countered, approaching the net herself and turning the tables on the Japanese.
Just when it looked like the second game was too tight to call, Sindhu came up with the most dreamlike period of play imaginable. From a tie at 10-10, Sindhu did not lose a point. Jaws dropped lower and lower as the score moved from an unbelievable 18-10 to an incredulous 19-10 and then 20-10. The last 11 points in the match went Sindhu’s way, and the second game was won 21-10.
It looked too easy, but what Sindhu had just achieved was far more incredible than any scoreline. She had become the highest ever achiever in badminton from the country at the Olympic Games. While Saina had become a national icon by clinching bronze in 2012, Sindhu had ensured that she will go (at least) one better. She had also ensured that there would an Indian woman for the first time who would win an Olympics silver or gold.
Sindhu had reached this stage by beating three much higher ranked players, one after the other. Now, with giant upon giant piled up by the wayside, a path to the final with Carolina Marin had been assured.
Justifiably, as the crowd roared and coach Pullela Gopichand congratulated her, Sindhu seemed to hear but not acknowledge. In her head, she was still listening to something else.
Sindhu 2.0 on show at Danish Open in November 2015
At one of the training sessions at Pullela Gopichand's academy last year, Sindhu was told that she would not be allowed to touch a racquet unless she stood in the middle of the court and screamed her lungs out with everybody present in the hall. Aggression is one of the few things that had not been one of her stronger points, and this was her coach's way of bringing her out of herself – to bring out the best Sindhu that India could have.
At 179 cm, Sindhu is taller than most other top badminton players in the world. But the initial advantage that she enjoyed through this had been nullified, as opponents figured out her playing style over the years. However, as she prepared for her maiden Olympics appearance, Sindhu the promising became Sindhu the champion at some stage.
This transformation was on show at the Danish Open in November 2015, where she beat Marin and Wang Yihan on her way to the final, losing to Li Xuerui. This was the first Super Series final she had ever reached, beating two top players in the world on the way. Her defence seemed to have improved a lot, and she was willing to cover more ground than ever before. Little could we have known though that this would only be a dress rehearsal.
Why Sindhu looks likely to beat Marin
As the final scene looms of Rio 2016, Sindhu gets ready for the grand closing, the only Indian representative who has made it this far. A gold medal is in sight – it would be a first for an Indian woman and only the second individual gold medal after Abhinav Bindra. Against Marin, who is the reigning World No. 1, Sindhu has a 2-3 head to head record. But Marin has never been the Indians' nemesis, it has always been the Chinese.
Pullela Gopichand told Sportskeeda after her semifinal win in Rio that he had not slept for the last four days, preparing individual battle plans for all the possible opponents Sindhu could face. Marin has a habit of emitting a grunt after points, something that intimidates opponents. But as we saw against Okuhara, Sindhu can now adapt her game according to what she is up against – she can return aggression with interest.
If at some point in the final on Friday, Sindhu finds herself losing to Marin and being intimidated by her grunts, her mind will probably be transported to the hall one year ago when she had been made to scream so that she was given permission to hold a racquet.
The biggest reason why it can be said that Sindhu has a good chance against Marin, despite the differences in their rank, is how Sindhu has looked and walked on the court through Rio 2016. Sometimes a champion can be recognised without her having to hit a single shot.
“Sindhu, a seventh standard student of Auxilium High School in the city, is now one of the best hopes for women's badminton. With an ability to engage her rivals in long rallies before interspersing them with delicate drops to pick crucial points” – A report in The Hindu had said back in 2008. Now, instead of Auxilium High School, a whole nation of 1.3 billion have their most heartfelt prayers rallying behind the Hyderabad girl.
