On This Day in 2020: PV Sindhu etched her name in history with second Olympic medal

World Champion PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals on August 1, 2020.

PV Sindhu is not just an athlete in India; she’s the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of badminton. On this day, August 1, she etched her name in history by winning her second Olympic medal, becoming the first Indian ever to achieve this feat in the sport.

Already a BWF World Champion and a silver medalist at Rio 2016, Sindhu bagged the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

During that campaign, the Indian shuttler was on fire. She took just 41 minutes to defeat Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in straight sets (21-15, 21-13) to reach the quarterfinals. There again, Sindhu put on a dominant show, thrashing Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi to storm into the semi-finals.

In the semi-final clash, India’s hopes for a historic first Olympic gold in badminton, however, were dashed, as the World champion fell to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying 18-21, 12-21.

Now it was the bronze medal match, against China’s He Bing Jiao – a high-pressure bout that held historic significance for her country. Sindhu was not ready to go down that day.

She took control of the match early, sealing the first game 21-13. The second game was thrilling, with the score all tied at 11-11, Sindhu started digging deep. And finally, bringing her classic strategy, she pulled ahead to seal the game 21-15, earning India’s first-ever second Olympic medal in Badminton.

Also Read: BWF World Championships: Full list of title winners

On August 1, 2020, PV Sindhu also became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian overall to win two individual Olympic medals, after wrestler Shushil Kumar. The third is Neeraj Chopra, who won gold in the Javelin Throw at Tokyo and continued the medal streak in Paris 2024 with silver.

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