Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap laud PV Sindhu's landmark Olympic silver medal

NEW DELHI: PV Sindhu's landmark silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics - making her the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Summer Games - has been hailed by Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap, with the latter singling out the 21-year-old's mental fortitude as hugely significant not just today, but for her future. Sindhu, tenth in the global rankings, lost to Spain's Carolina Marin, ranked No 1, 21-12, 12-21, 15-21 to win silver.
"It is a phenomenal achievement for Sindhu. Just to have beaten the world No 2 and No 6 in consecutive matches to reach the final and thus ensure herself a silver is outstanding. Yes, she lost to an exceptional player like Carolina Marin, the No 1 ranked player and top seed, but to push her repeatedly and win the first game is no small achievement and to beat her would have required Sindhu to play out of her skin," Kashyap - who four years ago in London reached the quarterfinals where he lost to the top seed Lee Chong Wei - told TOI Sports shortly after an epic final.
Saina, speaking from her home in Hyderabad, added: "It's been a super tournament for her. Congratulations to Sindhu and Gopi sir [coach P Gopichand]. Marin played great under pressure, it's not easy to be number 1 and win like that."
Following the surprise exit of Saina, a former world No 1, to the 61st ranked Maria Ulitina of Ukraine 21-18, 21-19 in her second match in Rio, it had fallen upon Sindhu and Srikanth to carry the hopes of Indian badminton at the Olympics.
Sindhu, in her first Olympics, entered the pre-quarters with a grueling 72-minute win over Canada's Michelle Li 21-19, 21-15, setting up a very tough match against the London Olympics silver medalist Yihan Wang of China. In the end, she beat Yihan - seven years older than her - 22-20, 21-19 to become the second Indian after Saina to reach the last four at the Olympics. She then beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight sets 21-19, 21-10 in 51 minutes to become the first Indian in an Olympics badminton final.
On the biggest day of her career, Sindhu never stopped fighting and won the biggest prize in the history of Indian badminton - an Olympic silver, to go past Saina Nehwal's bronze four years ago in London.
"Hats off to Sindhu and Gopi sir, this is a tremendous achievement and its full credit to them," said Kashyap. "If you'd asked me before the Olympics how Sindhu would fare against the world No 2 and 6, I'd have said that she'll fight hard. But she beat them both to win a silver medal. How do you top that? Winning gold, yes, but a silver is a fantastic achievement."
In the men's singles, Srikanth made the quarterfinals after beating world No 5 Jan O Jorgensen 21-19, 21-19 where he was beaten by China's Lin Dan, the double Olympic champion in three games.
Hailing his compatriot, Kashyap was also sympathetic to Srikanth. "What an Olympics he had. It was just his bad luck that he ran into Lin Dan in the quarters. Srikanth played some excellent badminton in Rio, and that's testament to his focus. Overall, this has been an outstanding campaign for Indian badminton."