PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a Olympic silver medal, losing to Carolina Marin 19-21 21-12 21-15 in the final of the women's badminton singles on Friday. To her credit, she put in a remarkable performance, taking the World No. 1 to the very end in an extraordinary match. Sindhu also became the youngest Indian to win an individual Olympic medal.
In a tight beginning to the final, PV Sindhu committed some unforced errors to concede a 1-5 lead to Marin. The World No. 1 then pulled off some sizzling smashes to extend her lead further to 11-6. Sindhu started edging her way back, coming off the victor of an epic 52-shot rally, to make things tighter at 16-17. Sindhu then took advantage of a nervous Marin to get five points in succession to come back from 16-19 down to take the first game 21-19.
A far more determined Marin came out for the second game and sped away to a 5-1 lead again. The signs looked ominous for Sindhu as Marin got a flurry of points to open up a 11-2 lead at the interval. Sindhu then recovered some ground, pulling off some amazing returns to give herself a chance at 7-14. This time though, the World No. 1 showed no signs of nerves and took the second game 21-12 to force the match into the decider.
It all came down to the third game and a pumped-up Marin now showcased superb placement to take an early 6-1 lead. Sindhu pushed herself back into contention, reeling off a series of brilliant returns to to reduce the deficit to just a single point at 8-9 and then levelled things at 10-10 after yet another incredible rally.
Marin edged into the advantage over the next few points through some deft footwork, but Sindhu kept knocking away and at 16-14 with the World No. 1 holding a two point lead, it was still anybody's game. An unforced error gave Marin a 19-14 lead and then she held her nerve at the end to take the game 21-15 and with it, the Olympic gold.
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