PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two individual medals at the Olympics, adding a Tokyo Games bronze to her 2016 Rio silver. Having once again made history for India at the Olympics, Sindhu is far from done. In an exclusive chat with NDTV, the star shuttler said that becoming the first Indian woman with two individual medals, will motivate her to "achieve a lot more and work harder". Sindhu went into the Tokyo Olympics as one of the biggest medal hopes for the country and with expectations high, the double Olympic medallist said that it was very important to be "calm and composed".
"Very happy that I have won the bronze medal and very proud. It's not easy to win back-to-back medals at the Olympics. It was very different in 2016 and it's been very different in Rio," Sindhu told NDTV.
"The pressure, the expectations were very high. It was very important for me to be calm and composed and just give my best. Being the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals will give me the motivation to achieve a lot more and work harder," she added.
Sindhu had lost to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals, but the World No.1 was defeated by China' Chen Yu Fei in the gold medal match.
Putting rivalry aside, Sindhu extended support for her semi-final opponent. Tai Tzu Ying herself revealed that Sindhu "held me in her arms" and the Indian's "sincere encouragement made me cry".
Speaking about her warm gesture for Tai Tzu Ying, Sindhu said she knows how much it hurts after losing.
"After losing, she (Tai) was very upset, I went up to and spoke to her. I know how much it hurts after losing. I just told her that 'you have played well, it happens'. Winning and losing is a part of life. There is always the next day. She felt better after I told her all this. She thanked me for my support," said the Tokyo Games bronze medal winner.