Pullela Gopichand's Verdict on India's Rio 2016 Stars: 'Saved by The Girl Child'

A BMW each to Olympics silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu, her coach Pullela Gopichand, bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik and also gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth, were handed over at Hyderabad's Gopichand Academy in the presence of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who was one of India's Goodwill ambassador of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics.

Hyderabad District Badminton Association president Chamundeshwarnath had gifted the luxury cars to the four sportspersons for their outstanding achievement.

Sachin said this was hopefully only the beginning for a lot more to come. "I am proud to stand beside these sportspersons (pointing towards Sindhu, Sakshi and Dipa). They have brought laurels to the country," he said.

"We have supported them wholeheartedly. We prayed for them, blessed them. These are the things that an athlete looks forward to. This is a wonderful moment for Indian sports. Their journey begins here and I hope it will only be better as the time goes."

Gopichand summed up the celebration of the day pointing out that "It was not Save the Girl Child but Saved by the girl child" at Rio. He thanked the three girls for making the country proud.

"What all these three have done is great. Salute to girl power. Sachin's encouraging words were a great inspiration."

Dressing in a flowing white dress, Sindhu said: I'm thankful to everyone especially Sachin Sir he said he would gift me a car , I would like to get more laurels for the country.

Sakshi Malik said she would want to do better at Tokyo. She had a special request for a selfie of her family with Sachin tendulkar as her brother, she said, was a big fan. "Thank you to all, I'm honoured I would love to bring more laurels to my countrys," she said.

Dipa said despite not winning a medal, she was being honoured and she would certainly target a medal at the next Games. "I'm thankful to all , without medal I'm being honoured," she said.