HYDERABAD: Every time an unprecedented sporting occurrence involves India, the reactions are thunderous. People express their views profusely on social media and other places. Indian badminton star PV Sindhu’s gold medal-winning effort at the recent World Championships is one of those achievements that evoke reactions from every nook and cranny of the country.
The 24-year-old landed in the city around 7.45 pm on Tuesday. Begumpet Airport had many onlookers waiting for her for hours. The only aberration was that most of them were media personnel. Something similar awaited Sindhu and her guru Pullela Gopichand when they made the journey to the Sai Gopichand Academy for a press conference later in the evening. There were several scribes, but just a handful of fans.
It may be recalled that when Sindhu had clinched the Olympic silver three years ago, the lanky shuttler was welcomed in a way that made it seem like the whole city celebrated with her. Thousands had filled the Gachibowli Stadium to wish her, and many folks artists had performed in celebration.Though the reactions could have been better, Sindhu was not disheartened and faced an array of questions with a smile. Gopichand, who usually maintains an intense demeanour, did not mince words to describe his student’s remarkable performance.
Describing her game at the summit clash, the former All England Championships winner said: “To see that (Akane) Yamaguchi could not do much to counter Sindhu was something special. The idea was to attack and if that would not have worked, we would have changed the strategy.” Sindhu reached Hyderabad after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.