Rio 2016: After Sakshi's bronze, PV Sindhu bids for 2nd medal for India
Rio de Janeiro: A day after unheralded grappler Sakshi Malik opened India's medal count with a dramatic bronze-winning effort, shuttler PV Sindhu is all set to further showcase Indian women's capabilities at the Olympic Games here on Thursday.
Showing extraordinary fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude, 23-year-old Sakshi from Haryana ended India's frustrating medal drought by scooping bronze medal in the 58 kg category in a stunning effort that saw her come back from the dead after losing in the quarterfinals.
Sakshi climbed the medal rostrum with a spectacular come-from-behind 8-5 win over Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan after trailing 0-5 in the first period.
She jumped on the mat with ear-to-ear smile before being hoisted by her coach Kuldeep Singh with the Indian tri-colour draped around her.
The scene must have been highly inspiring for all and sundry watching it at the stadium here or the millions glued in front of TV sets at home, and would act as the perfect shot-in-the-arm for Sindhu as she prepares to take on Japan's Nokomo Okuhara in the women's singles semifinals.
Sindhu remains the country's lone medal hope in the badminton event after Kidambi Srikanth suffered a fighting loss against two-time defending champion Lin Dan in the men's singles quarterfinals on day 12 on Wednesday.
Sindhu scripted a stellar 22-20, 21-19 win against former world number one and London Games silver medalist Wang Yihan to enter the women's semifinals.
A win against Japan's Okuhara in the semifinal on will assure Sindhu of at least a silver, that would be only the second medal for India at the Games.
