INSPIRING MILLIONS WITH NEVER SAY DIE SPIRIT
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born on 5th July 1995, Hyderabad. Both her parents, namely P.V.Ramana and P.Vijaya were national level volley ball players. Her father is an Indian Railway employee and was a member of the Indian volleyball team who received Arjuna award in 2000 for his contribution in the sport. Sindhu completed her schooling at Auxilium High School and graduated from St.Ann’s College for women, Hyderabad and also holds an MBA degree from the same college. Although her parents were volley ball players, Sindhu chose badminton over volley ball and started playing badminton from the age of 8 as she was inspired from Pullela Gopichand who eventually became her coach. Initially, Sindhu learned basics in the sport under the guidance of Mehaboob Ali at the badminton courts of the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications in Secunderabad and later joined Gopichand Badminton Academy. She later parted company with Gopichand and is currently getting trained with South Korean coach Park Tae-sang.
Sindhu entered the international circuit at a young age of 14. She was a bronze medallist at the 2009 Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships held in Colombo. At the Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge, she won the silver medal in the singles category in 2010. In 2011, she won the Maldives International Challenge in June defeating compatriot P.C. Thulasi.. On 7 July 2012, she won the Asian Junior Championships beating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the final 18–21, 21–17, 22–20, becoming India’s first-ever Asian Junior Champion
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In Indian Badminton League(2013), she was the captain of the team Awadhe Warriors. Her team qualified for the semi- final, where they beat Mumbai Marathas, but lost in the final to Hyderabad Hotshots. She won Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title by defeating Canada’s Michelle Li on 1st December 2013.
Sindhu reached the finale of the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold but lost to her senior playmate Saina Nehwal. She suffered a stress fracture in 2015 that kept her from playing for nearly six months, yet managed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. In January 2016, Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women’s singles title after beating Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour in the final. With that result, she bagged the silver medal, creating history as India’s youngest individual Olympic medallist and the first female individual to clinch an Olympic silver medal representing India. This was only the second instance of a podium finish at the Olympics by any Indian badminton player.
Sindhu did not have her phone during the last three months. The first thing is, I would return her phone. The second thing, after coming here for last 12-13 days, I had deprived her from having sweet, curd which she likes most. I also stopped her from eating ice-cream. Now she can eat whatever she wants,” says Gopi with heightened joy to PTI after Sindhu’s silver winning feat in 2016, Rio Olympics.
In the India Open Super Series, she won the title by defeating Carolina Marin in straight games. In April 2017, she achieved a career-high with world ranking of number 2. In August, she took charge as the Deputy Collector in Krishna District in the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) office under the Revenue Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. In 2020, she won bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics and was the first women to affirm two Olympic medals in badminton. She was entitled the BBC Indian Sportswoman of Year on 8th March 2020. In April, she was elected as one of the ambassadors of the BWF. Committee’s campaign – “I am Badminton” to promote clean and fair play in the sport. In May 2021, she was elected as one of the two ambassadors from badminton in the International Olympic Committee’s campaign ‘Believe in Sport’, aimed at preventing competition manipulation in the sport. Sindhu won the Syed Modi International for the second time beating compatriot Malvika Bansod in the final. She then won the title at the 2022 Swiss Open.
Sindhu has been a flag bearer of the Indian badminton all these years and will continue the legacy in the sport with her incessant determination and optimistic demeanor. This 26-year-old women is being an inspiration to the millions of people in shaping their career path towards a sport.
