PARIS: The most poignant scene in all of sport is to see a player toiling to stay afloat. The other day at Roland Garros, the tragic image of Rafael Nadal struggling would remain etched in many fans’ hearts. Plagued by injuries, his aging body was not responding to the mind.
In the Porte de la Chapelle hall, it may not resemble Nadal, but had traces of it. Two former Olympic medallists were playing on the two opposite sides of the hall. Rio Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin on Court 1. On Court 3, it was Rio silver-medallist PV Sindhu. Marin is 31 years old and Sindhu 29 (in badminton, 30 is considered to be to old). This could well be their last Games and both know. Yet both seemed a bit slow.
While Marin after losing the first game against Zhang Beiwen made a comeback and won the match, Sindhu failed against China’s He Bingjiao 19-21, 14-21 and crashed out in the last 16 of the women’s singles event on Thursday. Her hopes of a three-peat was crushed in 56 minutes. Overall, it was heartbreak all over the badminton arena. About three hours before Sindhu, India’s brightest hopes of a medal, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, crashed out in the quarters (Lakshya Sen beat HS Prannoy in an all-India Round of 16 affair).
The result seemed inevitable. Bingjiao controlled the drift and pace of the game right from the first game. Though Sindhu did show glimpses of her past to claw back in the first game, it was not enough to close out. The aging limbs were not taking command from the brain and every return seemed rushed and shots seemed a wee bit slow. And when Bingjiao hit, the shuttle seemed to fly a tad too fast to Sindhu. The first game had moments. Though the scores seemed close, the game wasn’t as Bingjiao was in the lead most of the time. The second seemed to be just a formality.
Sindhu admitted as much during the post match briefing in the mixed zone. “It’s sad that I couldn’t convert it to a win, especially in the first game, because it was-19 all at some point,” she said after the match. She felt that if she had won the first game, things would have been different. It may well have been but in the world of sports, there is no room for supposition.
The smart work Sindhu had been talking about deserted her. “I should have controlled my mistakes is what I felt in the second game, because I gave her a huge lead,” she said. I should have controlled the mistakes on my defence.” She was troubled by Bingjiao’s smashes too but what Sindhu rued were the missed smashes from the middle of the court that went out.
Though she is out of the Olympics, she has not thought about the next Olympics right now. As of now she would love to take a break. “I just (want to) go back and rest for a bit. Maybe just take some break and then come back and let’s see what it is because four years is a very, very long time.” Injury too has been a concern for her and the last year had not been the best either. Yet she felt she had worked hard.
Sindhu need not be disheartened at all. When she sits down and reflects on her past, she would see those two shining medals dangling in the closet and inside her heart. She has done what no Indian shuttler has done -- win two Olympic medals.