How PV Sindhu Reached Her First Olympic Semi-Finals

She walked onto the court wearing an all yellow outfit. Not the blue or white uniform we've got accustomed to seeing all Indian athletes wear at these Olympic Games, but yellow. Yellow of Brazil. Yellow that every local fan wears to every venue in Rio, irrespective of whether a Brazilian athlete is participating or not.

So, even before the first point of the match was played, PV Sindhu- in her yellow kit- had struck a chord with the Rio faithfuls.

First point of the match, Wang Yihan wins. The world no.2, and silver medallist from London 2012, would lead most part of the first game but Sindhu wouldn't let her out of her sight.

'Ole.... Ole-Ole-Ole' is a chant one often hears at football venues around the globe (Ole has Latin American origins and is used as a shout of approval, triumph, or encouragement)

'Ole... Ole-Ole-Ole...India... India', would reverberate inside the badminton arena every time Sindhu won a point. These weren't fans from India. The locals were backing the lady in yellow.

15-14 would be the first time Sindhu would lead. From there on, she never trailed the Chinese in the entire match.

22-20, first game to Sindhu.

A day before playing Wang Yihan, Sindhu faced world no.8 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the round of 16 match. Wang sat in the stands along with her coach, and watched the match.

Since my Chinese vocabulary is restricted to Kung Pao, Szechwan and Chow Mein, I couldn't really follow what the two spoke; But my reading of her body language told me, Wang was rooting for Tai Tzu. Each time Tai Tzu missed a point, Wang would shake her head in disagreement.

With my limited knowledge of of geo-politics, I wondered why a Chinese would root for a Taiwanese. Last I read, China has 1500+ missiles pointed at Taiwan, and constant threat of military invasion.

Game 2, I had my answer. Sindhu was running circles around her higher ranked opponent. Before one knew it, Gopichand's protege was leading 9-4. Evidently. Wang wasn't wrong in hoping for Tai Tzu, instead of Sindhu as her opponent in the quarters. After all, the Hyderabad-based shuttler had beaten Wang in their last meeting in 2015, at the Denmark Open.

Chants of 'Ole.. Ole-Ole-Ole.. India... India' grew lounder.

After a few nervous moments in the end when the Chinese shuttler won five straight points, the girl in yellow wrapped up the second game 21-19, to reach her first Olympic semi-finals. Now, a win away from the gold medal match.

Sindhu next faces World no.6 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semis, an opponent that the Indian has lost to on the last three occasions.

Hoping she comes to the court on Thursday wearing yellow.