PV Sindhu. The name that has emerged as the biggest identity of Indian badminton in the last decade. The position that Saina Nehwal gave to badminton in India, especially women's singles, Sindhu took it to new heights. Known for her tall stature and ability to beat her opponents with her fast returns, Sindhu has been India's biggest hope in this event for many years. Whether it is Olympics or Asian Games or World Championship, Sindhu has been India's strongest contender. Sindhu, who played her first Olympics at the age of 21, will now enter her third Olympics with the intention of scoring a hat-trick of medals and will help fill India's bag.

Sindhu is one of the many bright disciples of former veteran player Pullela Gopichand, who has been preparing a new and talented crop of badminton players in India for the last 17-18 years. Like Saina Nehwal, Sindhu also learned the language of badminton from the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad and improved herself in this game. This young daughter of parents who play volleyball at the national level also chose the game and obviously the family gave full support, whether it was going to the training camp about 56 kilometers away early in the morning, or reaching out to support in different tournaments.

India's first world champion

Sindhu, who started playing badminton at the age of just 8, first gained recognition at the national level in the 2012 China Masters, when she surprised everyone by defeating London Olympics gold medalist Li Xuerui. Then in 2013, Sindhu truly came into the eyes of the country and the world, when at the age of just 18, she made it to the semi-finals of the World Championship and created history by winning the bronze medal. She was only the second Indian and the first Indian woman to win this medal. After this, she won 2 silver and 1 bronze again and finally became the first Indian to win the World Championship gold medal in 2019.

Chance to make history in Olympics

Sindhu did wonders in her first Olympics itself. Sindhu made it to the finals with a sensational performance in Rio 2016 Olympics. Here she lost to Carolina Marin of Spain and missed the gold but she became the first Indian player to win a badminton silver in the Olympics. Sindhu's brilliance was seen again in the Olympics, when she returned with a medal in Tokyo 2020. However, this time too the gold did not come, while the color was also changed but with the bronze medal she became only the second Indian athlete (after Sushil Kumar - 2008, 2012) to win medals in two different Olympics. Now in Paris, she can become the first Indian to win 3 Olympic medals.

Apart from all this, Sindhu has also won 2 gold medals in Commonwealth Games, one in singles (2022) and one in mixed team (2018). She has also won two silver and one bronze medals in these games. She has also won one silver and one bronze medal in Asian Games. Sindhu has also won many Masters and Super Series titles. She has reached number 2 in BWF rankings.

Big tournament players

Sindhu will once again be the centre of Indian hopes at the Olympics. The Paris Olympics will be even more special for her because for the first time she will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony. She has not been able to perform well for the last 2 years and has been eliminated in the early rounds of many big tournaments or has missed the finals. Fitness has also not supported her during this period. Despite this, if there is one thing badminton fans know best about Sindhu and can bet on, it is the star shuttler's ability to perform in big events and there is nothing bigger than the Olympics.