VISAKHAPATNAM: PV Sindhu, world number five, became the first Indian to win the World Badminton Championship. Her sterling performance against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the finals on Sunday brought cheers to sports fraternity of the City of Destiny. They described her victory as a proud moment for Indians, particularly for Telugu people in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Sindhu has an association with the city and she is currently the brand ambassador of Vizag Steel of RINL.
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant collective congratulated Sindhu on her maiden victory at the World Badminton
Championship. RINL CMD PK Rath said Sindhu brought laurels and fame to the entire nation and particularly to Vizag Steel fraternity. Her victory further enhances the brand image of Vizag Steel, he said and wished her many more laurels in future.
NV Muralikrishna, the international badminton player and coach, said he knew Sindhu for over 12 years. He said he accompanied Sindhu as team coach during national junior tournaments. Her success at the world championship was really a great moment, he said.
Sindhu is highly disciplined and has all qualities of a champion, Muralikrishna, who is the coach of Lakshya Badminton Academy, said. He said any achievement by sportspersons at the highest level will act as an inspiration for many in the country and it will, in turn, pave way for building a healthy society. He said after the recent success of Sindhu, Saina and Srikanth, many young people, mostly BTech students, are approaching him to pursue badminton as a career.
Former Olympian and former port sports officer MV Manikyalu said credit should go to strenuous training the players are undergoing at Pullela Gopichand academy. With the triumph of Sindhu it was proved that proper training and strict discipline will win medals, he said. He said Sindhu won the final with ease and it looked like an almost one-sided match. He said Sindhu met him during Olympic Run in the city recently. He found that she is very obedient and gives a lot of respect to elders.
Dronacharaya awardee and boxing coach I Venkateswara Rao said Sindhu brought fame to the entire country with her maiden win at the world championship. He said hard work and dedication are mantras of Sindhu’s success. He said they will be celebrating Sindhu’s victory at SAI hostel here on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Minister for Tourism Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao congratulated Sindhu on winning gold. Senior IAS officials, including K Praveen Kumar and K Bhaskar, wished that Sindhu will win more laurels in future bringing fame to Andhra Pradesh.