PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik Top Searched Indian Athletes

Badminton sensation PV Sindhu was the top searched athlete in Google India, followed by bronze medal winning wrestler Sakshi Malik, as the country is gripped by Olympic fever.

"Following her sensational move against world number 6 Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals of the women's badminton singles, PV Sindhu was the top searched Indian athlete, followed by debut medallist Sakshi Malik," Google said.

Other top searched Indian athletes in the last three days were Kidambi Srikanth (badminton), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics) who secured fourth position, Sania Mirza (tennis), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Vinesh Phogat (wrestling), Lalita Babar (long distance running), Vikas Krishan Yadav (boxing) and Narsingh Pancham Yadav (wrestling).

While overall badminton and wrestling remained the top searched sports by Indians, interest in athletics and gymnastics was boosted by some thrilling performances by the players in the Olympics.

"India is currently ranked 11th in the global trends in terms of searches for the 'Olympics' over the last seven days," the statement said.

Indians also showed a great deal of excitement for Jamaican sprinter and world's fastest man Usain Bolt, who remained the most searched foreign athlete on Google India.

Apart from Bolt, other top searched foreign players being searched by Indians in the last three days include Chinese badminton player Lin Dan who defeated Kidambi Srikanth, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan who lost to P V Sindhu, swimming great from the US Michael Phelps and Chinese badminton player Wang Yihan.

Meanwhile, people of the North Eastern states appear to be more interested in the Rio Olympics compared to other states of the country, according to an analysis by Google.

Six North Eastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim and Nagaland -- have emerged as the top six Indian states from where netizens have extensively searched Google for information on Rio Games, the Google statement said.

The remaining four positions in the Top 10 list have been occupied by Goa, Puducherry, Haryana and Uttarakhand, it said.