India's PV Sindhu celebrates after winning the women's badminton silver medal
World number one Marin wins maiden Olympic gold in badminton final; Sindhu first Indian woman to take Olympic silver.
Published: Fri 19 Aug 2016, 6:33 PM
Last updated: Fri 16 Sep 2016, 3:41 PM
Despite putting up a heroic fight against the world's top-ranked player Carolina Marin, India's PV Sindhu failed to clear the final hurdle as the world number 10 lost to the Spaniard 21-19 12-21 15-21 in the women's badminton final at the Rio Olympic Games on Friday.
Sindhu showed amazing spirit against the two-time defending world champion in the first game. She was trailing 6-12 at one stage, but staged a great comeback to clinch the first game that saw some breathtaking rallies.
The Spaniard hit back in the second game with her superb shot-making skills. In the third game, the Spaniard dominated once again, but Sindhu kept fighting. In the end, the experience of Marin came to the fore as she held her nerve to win what a fabulous game of badminton.
With this defeat, Sindhu failed to emulate ace Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra who won the country's only Olympic individual gold medal in shooting at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old Marin won her first Olympic gold medal on Friday.
Sindhu, the talented shot-maker from Hyderabad, didn't show any signs of nerve in the biggest match of her life as she made the country of 1.25 billion people proud with her grit and talent.
In the end though, Marin was the better player and deservedly won the match, leaving Sindhu with a silver medal.
"I thought it would be a gold but never mind, I got a silver," Sindhu said after becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver.
"I never thought I would make it to here."
Marin, on the other hand, was over the moon. "I'm very excited, I don't know how I'm feeling now but it is amazing that my dream has come true. I just had to believe in myself," she said after winning the gold.
"It is more than a medal because of everything behind the medal. I have the best team behind me, they helped me a lot and were amazing."
For India, this was their second medal at the Rio Games. India's first medal came when women wrestler Sakshi Malik won bronze in the 58 kg freestyle event on Wednesday night. Sakshi became the first Indian women wrestler to win an Olympic medal for India.
After a barren run in the first part of the Games, there was unbelievable pressure from media and the public on the Indian wrestlers and Sindhu to win medals.
Sindhu, who saw her injured compatriot Saina Nehwal bow out in the group stage, pulled off one upset after another in the singles event to get the medal.
The 21-year-old player won 21-19 21-10 over Japanese world number three Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals on Thursday after ousting world number two Wang Yihan of China 22-20, 21-19 in the quarterfinals.
Sindhu is no stranger to success though, as the world number 10 has twice won bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships in 2013 and 2014. She also won a bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
A recipient of Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, Sindhu has been coached by Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand - a former world number four in men's badminton and winner of the 2001 All England Badminton Championships.
Spain's Carolina Marin won in three games against India's PV Sindhu.
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