Sindhu makes history after becoming India's first female silver medallist
The badminton star has made history after becoming the country's youngest Olympic medallist and the first female silver medallist following an incredibly close final match against world number one Carolina Marin of Spain.
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She may have lost in the finals, but India’s P.V. Sindhu still made history on Friday after becoming the first woman in the country’s history to win an Olympic silver medal.
India’s newspapers were headlining with Sindhu's win, with the Indian Express applauding her win was “as good as gold.”
The 21-year-old lost to world number one Carolina Marin of Spain in an incredibly close match, where Sindhu often closed in on Marin’s lead throughout.
Fans took to the streets on Friday night in Sindhu’s hometown of Hyderabad in Southern India, cheering and carrying national flags.
Sindhu, who is ranked world number ten, won the first game of the final 21-19, before losing in the second two rounds.
Nevertheless, before Sindhu, Indian women had only won four Olympic medals, all of them bronze, in the 120 year modern Olympic history.
Sindhu stated she was “proud and thankful” and said she would celebrate her win by eating “a bit of junk food.”
She is also India’s youngest individual Olympics medal winner.
So far Sindhu and women’s wrestler Sakshi Malik are the only two medalists among this year’s Indian Olympic contingent, which is also the largest the country has ever sent to the games.
The 23-year-old Malik took home a bronze medal in the women’s wrestling freestyle.
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