By Rajesh Sahu

After taming world number 2 Wang Yihan, P V Sindhu thrashed world number six and reigning All England Champion, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, to reach the final of women’s singles at Rio Olympics – the  first Indian badminton player to do so. The 21 year old won in straight games 21-19, 21-10 to set up the gold medal clash with world number one Carolina Marin of Spain. At the least Sindhu is assured of a silver medal, one better than Saina’s bronze at the 2012 London Games. Considering the form Sindhu is in, even a gold medal seems a distinct possibility. 

A Brand new Sindhu   

For the Rio Games, Sindhu has decided to shun her usual boring shorts and t-shirt. In the semifinal she was  seen sporting an elegant sleeveless yellow dress. Her game and her attitude on court has also been refreshingly different. 

With her reach (she is almost 5.11 inches tall) and aggressive wrist snaps and stroke-play, Sindhu looked to dominate her higher ranked opponents. It’s Sindhu’s brand new game; she no longer looks vulnerable to sharp drop shots. And not someone who would earlier win a few quick points and then follow it up with a series of unforced errors. All that has changed.

At Rio, Sindhu has been more consistent, cutting down on unforced errors drastically. And even while trailing, she doesn’t look lost and tired anymore. This could very well be because of her high fitness level. 

The Making of a Champion

The first time I visited the Gopichand Academy was way back in 2009 to do a special show on Saina Nehwal for reaching the world ranking number 2. We spent a good three days at the academy, with our cameras firmly focused on Saina. When Sindhu slowly rose through the ranks in the next couple of years, I went back to have look at the training sessions shots we had taken and found a tall and lanky shuttler playing doubles alongside Saina and both having fun on court. The next time I would visit the academy after three years, it was all business for Sindhu, practicing hard at her singles game but Saina still hogged most of Gopi’s attention. 

The Gopi Factor  

When ace shuttler Saina Nehwal decided to part ways with Pullela Gopichand, opting to be coached by Vimal Kumar instead, Gopi had to prove a point. Gopi had given his all to create a world-beater in Saina. The bitter parting and Saina citing lack of attention from the national coach at the Gopichand Academy must have hurt.     

That prompted Gopi’s undivided attention to focus on Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth. Both have worked tirelessly under Gopi’s guidance. The tall lanky Hyderabad girl is now transformed into a feisty world-beater. 

It clearly is reflected in her Rio performance. Saina’s early exit did also put the focus firmly on Sindhu. And she has risen to the occasion and how. 

She might have won back to back medals at the World Championships but her Rio performance is something else. As Sindhu prepares for the final against the world number one Carolina Marin, this is what she had to say “My target is gold and I promise to play my heart out against Carolina Marin.” Looking at her performance in the previous rounds one wouldn’t expect anything less.