Dressed in a black jumpsuit with her hair down, PV Sindhu landed in her hometown in Hyderabad on Wednesday, August 4. The smile behind her face mask and the bronze medal she won at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were enough to work up the exuberance among the crowd as the 26-year-old badminton star walked out of the Hyderabad airport with her coach Park Tae-Sang.
Apart from showering her with bouquets of flowers and shawls, the gathering cheered and clapped for Sindhu. Among her ardent fans who waited to meet their star were a group of students from the Suchitra Academy, where Sindhu trains. They held up banners welcoming her, clapped, cheered for Sindhu, and even managed to get hold of Pullela Gopichand, her former coach.
Airport staff, security staff, and even travellers gathered around to get a peek at the Olympic medallist. Sports Minister V Srinivas Goud and Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) chairman A Venkateshwar Reddy, and other officials received her at the airport.
PV Sindhu with her coach Park Tae-Sang and others at the Hyderabad airport
“I missed the crowd and missed the fans. Thanks to your blessings and my coach, I managed to win the medal,” Sindhu told the media after she reached home in Hyderabad. As she could not enter the semi-finals, she played for the bronze medal and defeated China’s He Bing Jiao in the women’s singles.
“My coach sacrificed a lot of things to train me. Hats off to his dedication and hard work. My dream has come true,” she said.
While it was Sindhu’s second medal after her silver medal victory in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, it was her coach Park Tae-Sang’s first medal. “Sindhu and I worked very hard. This moment I will never forget. This is my first Olympic medal, so I thank Sindhu,” he said.
“The previous medal changed my life. It was important to maintain fitness and win a medal in Tokyo,” Sindhu added.
PV Sindhu holding her Olympic bronze medal
She returned from Japan to Delhi a few days ago, where she received a grand reception. The airport staff, crowd, and others applauded her as she exited the airport. Officials from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI), too, received Sindhu in Delhi.
In 2016, Sindhu had directly returned from Rio de Janeiro to Hyderabad to a massive reception in her hometown at the Gachibowli stadium. With dance and music, fans cheered Sindhu. Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao, the then Home Minister Nagini Narsimha, and Deputy Chief Minister Mehmood Ali were among the politicians who welcomed her there. Considering the pandemic and COVID-19 protocols, the grand celebrations from Sindhu’s 2016 victory lacked this year.
According to Sindhu, coming from a sports family helped her through her career as a badminton professional. “I am very lucky as my parents are sportspersons, as they are from the same background. It made it much easier. Only if the whole ecosystem comes together can you create a champion.”
The two-time Olympic medallist has already made plans to work harder for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.