If you weren’t following the cricket happening around the world and aren’t a big football fan, then on Sunday evening, maybe your attention might have been drawn to P V Sindhu and her quest for the elusive Gold medal at the World Championships.
It’s tough to not root for Sindhu. Here is an Indian athlete who is just simply sensational at delivering at this very event year on year and on Sunday, in what seemed like her best and undeniably her most ruthless performance of the week, she trounced Nozomi Okuhara in a manner which probably left her dazed in wonder as to what had hit her.
It was a stark contrast to most of the other finals Sindhu had been involved in. There were no tense moments. Sindhu did well to keep the relatively short and as much as Okuhara tried to maintain the level of intensity in play by retrieving most of the shuttle aimed at her, Sindhu was ready with an answer for each of them and forced Okuhara to commit the error and crucially, once Sindhu went in front, there were no letups.
India has always had a lot to speak in terms of team success in sport. The cricket and the hockey teams have ensured the public have plenty to reminisce on.
In the individual field though, there haven’t been many who have gone on and done well consistently. In that regard, Sindhu falls in a rare category and perhaps a worthy role model to those who wish to reach the pinnacle.
What we saw in Basel over the past week wasn’t the first time that Sindhu had overcome a poor year and come good when it mattered. Prior to the Rio Olympics in 2016, the shuttler was coming off a difficult phase, with the results not going her way, but amidst the gloom ad the doom in Brazil, she gave the Indian public plenty of cheer for the duration of the last week.
This ability. The one to rise to an occasion. To put the past behind and deliver in the big events, with the best at the other end, with rapturous crowds going berserk in the stands, with thousands back home, watching every move, some analysing each shot to the T and passing on their opinion of it is what makes her special and different to several other Indian athletes, both past and present.
To stand and deliver with so much happening is why athletes play sport for and it is clear now that Sindhu loves all of them. The more you doubt her, the more she proves you wrong.
The win in Basel comes at a vital juncture for Sindhu. With just under a year left for the Tokyo Olympics, it is the kind of performance which would help free her mind, in terms of winning big finals. In cricket, they say once you reach your first Test hundred, then you learn to score the next one and ones after that. This win could prove to be something similar for Sindhu.
The task in Japan will be hard, but it is another big event. It is where Sindhu earns her bread.
