Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, a name which was on the lips of every indian on the evening of 19 August. The name of the hero who made the nation proud and bought this cricket frenzy indian subcontinent to a standstill. P.V. Sindhu won the silver medal in badminton women's singles event at Rio Olympics 2016 and became the silver shuttler of India.
Initial successes and remarkable rise
Sindhu broke into the top 20 in 2012 yet it was not until 2013 that she first made her presence felt in the Badminton circles. She won her maiden Grand Prix gold at the Malaysian Open that year and went on to win the first of her hat-trick of titles at the Macau Open in 2013. In March 2015, P.V. Sindhu received the Padma Shri and in doing so became the youngest recipient of India’s fourth highest civilian honor.
The summer of glory
India was having a dismal showing at the Rio Olympics 2016. All the major expectations were done and dusted and many medal contenders had lost. Some sportspersons had put up valiant efforts but had come up short in the pursuit of a medal.
It was on 16 August 2016 that India witnessed the beginning of the rise of a hero. Sindhu defeated the World No.2 Wang Yihan in her quarterfinal in straight sets by 22-20, 21-19. Two days later, on 18 August 2016, the hopes of an Olympic medal were fulfilled by Sakshi Malik as she won the bronze medal in Wrestling. On the very same day, the rise of Sindhu also escalated as she advanced to the final by defeating the World No.6 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-10 in the semifinal.
P.V. Sindhu had to satisfy herself with the silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016 after being beaten by the World No.1 Carolina Marin of Spain in three grueling sets. Although Sindhu lost but the manner in which she won the first set and played the next two had shown her supreme talent and grit. It won’t be wrong to say that India can hope for many more accolades from the racquet of Sindhu including an Olympic gold.
Does India really deserve Sindhu?
A very simple answer to this question is no. In a nation filled with Cricket enthusiasts being a professional player is a very difficult task. Indians don’t love and respect other games and sports as much as they deserve and then they complain about the lack of silverware in those fields.
India is a country where Cricket is treated like a religion which by no means is a wrong thing but as long as you provide attention to other sports as well. In India, all the significant resources are provided to Cricket which includes all the necessary infrastructure, nationwide exposure, large influx of cash, optimum opportunities and proper attention.
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Sports such as Gymnastics, Badminton, Athletics, Hockey, Basketball and many others are not even considered existant in the country which leads to poor preparations and poor results. There are no proper coaches, academies, equipments, and opportunities for the players to learn, improve and resurrect a career in these sports and yet, everybody expects the sportspersons to go in international events such as the Olympics and compete and beat much better equipped, trained and facilitated players.
Why India needs Sindhu
India needs Sindhu to create a revival and revolution of sorts. A revolution which could force the government as well as people to focus on other sports with which proper development of other sports could be done. Sindhu could act like a catalyst to speed up this long prolonged reaction and could end the neglect of the government as well people towards other sports.
The ‘Sindhu effect’ could lead to many prosperous results which most definitely will provide the players with best things and necessities to improve themselves. This could lead to a growth in interest among people toward other sports and once the people and youngsters will be attracted to these sports the good that will happen is immeasurable.
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The performances of the Indian players will most certainly be improved and they would be in better conditions to challenge for international glories. This could propel the overall growth of the nation and would also help in changing the norm of India being identified only as a Cricket playing country.
The Sindhu celebrations
The nation is overjoyed and proud of the achievement which P.V. Sindhu has achieved and she will be celebrated everywhere in the upcoming days but the most important celebration that every indian must do is the celebration of the girl child. There are many places in India where still girls are not allowed to step outside of their homes and even worse the cases where the girl child is aborted.
Let this victory of P.V. Sindhu and all the other females’ players at the Rio Olympics be an eye opener for all those who practice these evil things. Let those people realize that girls are in no way inferior to boys. In fact, they ,in reality, are better than boys and are capable of reaching any height and achieving any milestone, condition being they are provided the full support and right guidance by the family.
