Shuttler P V Sindhu bags bronze, India’s second medal at Tokyo Olympics

Sindhu defeated China's He Bing Jiao in straight sets in the women's singles third-place play-off to add a bronze medal to her silver that she had secured at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

PV Sindhu reacts after winning a point in the women's singles badminton match, in Tokyo, on 29 July 2021 | PTI

Tokyo: Star Indian shuttler P V Sindhu on Sunday became only the second Indian to win two Olympic medals, securing a bronze after a straight-game win over world no.9 He Bing Jiao of China in the women’s singles third-place play-off here.

Sindhu, who has returned with medals from each of the big-ticket events such as Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and BWF World Tour Finals in the last five years, outwitted eighth seed Bing Jiao 21-13 21-15 to add a bronze to her silver that she had secured at the 2016 Rio Games.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals, following up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with a silver at the London edition.

Up against an opponent, who has beaten her nine times so far in the last 15 meetings, Sindhu showed great determination to outplay Bing Jiao with her aggression to scoop India’s third medal at Tokyo.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has already gone back after collecting a silver, while boxer Lovlina Borgohain is assured of at least bronze so far.

With this win, the sixth seeded Sindhu also made up for the straight-game loss to world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying in the semifinals on Saturday.

She had beaten Japanese world no 5 Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, men’s singles player B Sai Praneeth and the men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had failed to qualify for the knockout stage.