Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (popularly known as PV Sindhu) has been a household name in India as an international badminton player. The people of India have been a witness to the journey of transformation of PV Sindhu from an aspirant badminton player to a top-seed athlete. She has created a mark for herself by becoming the only second individual athlete in the history of Indian sports to win medals in two consecutive Olympic Games. Her fame and inspiration know no boundaries in the country after her recent Bronze Medal in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Here is a brief account of PV Sindhu’s life history:

PV Sindhu age in 2021:

PV Sindhu was born on July 5th, 1995. As of 2021, She is 26 years old.

PV Sindhu belongs to which state:

She was born and brought up in Hyderabad city of the Telangana state

PV Sindhu Family:

PV Sindhu was born to PV Ramana and P. Vijaya as the second daughter. Both of them were National level Volleyball players. Their first daughter and PV Sindhu’s elder sister is PV Divya.

Early Life:

PV Sindhu’s father and mother were National level Volleyball players. Her father was even a part of the Indian Volleyball team that won a Bronze medal 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, South Korea. The sports were in her veins, and also she was exposed to sports quite early in her life. A young Sindhu would accompany her parents for their practice sessions of the South Central Railways volleyball teams.

But strangely, she never grew to like or get interested in Volleyball. A turning point in her life came when she happened to meet Pullela Gopichand, a legendary Badminton Player and All-England Champion at a function in her city. Pullela Gopichand’s story inspired her, and then just eight years old Sindhu developed a desire to become like him. She expressed her interest to get into badminton (which was just a pass-tome activity until then) to her father. Being a sportsperson himself, he was in all support of her.

Her father got her into the coaching under Mr. Mahboob Ali and SM Arif, the coaches at the Railway Officers Club in Secunderabad. She learnt the basics of the sport from them. She later joined the Gopichand Academy to get trained from her very inspiration Pullela Gopichand. She was dedicated to the sport and would practice for hours at the age of eight. Gopichand Academy was around 30 kms away from PV Sindhu’s residence, but that couldn’t deter Sindhu. She never missed her practice, and she was there always on time.

PV Sindhu’s Professional Career:

Starting her practice at the young age of 8, her first breakthrough came at the age of 14. In 2009, she participated and won a Bronze medal in the Sub-junior Asian Badminton Championships. That was a start to the legendary journey of winning several medals that we know of today. In the first two years of entering the international arena, PV Sindhu went on to win five medals in international competitions, including Swiss International, Iran Fajr International, the Maldives & Indonesia International Challenges, etc.

It was PV Sindhu’s resilience that made it possible for her to advance in this journey. Since she was 10 years old, she hated losing. If she ever lost a match or a competition, she would start crying very badly. Her father Mr. Ramanna and her coach Mr. Pullela Gopichand always motivated and encouraged her. On one such defeat, the words of her father mattered a lot for her. It helped her accept that either winning or losing are the outcomes of a match. It made her mentally strong, and she was able to accept defeats and learn from them.

After winning five medals in the first two years, her achievements and the winning spree continued through 2012 and further. She won the Asian Junior Championships in July 2012; she won the Malaysian Grand Prix title in 2013; she defeated China’s Wang Shixian in the quarterfinals of Badminton World Championships and became only the second medalist in the Singles event after Prakash Padukone’s medal in 1983.

In 2014, she won a Bronze medal in Asian Championships; and she created history by winning a Bronze medal in Badminton World Championships. She became the only Indian with two back-to-back medals in Badminton World Championships.

It was the Rio Olympics 2016 that proved to be life-changing for PV Sindhu. She bagged a Silver Medal in Rio Olympics making her the youngest and the only Indian female payer to achieve this feat. She defeated some of the top players in Women’s badminton like Tai Tzu Ying from Taiwan, Wang Yihan from China, and Nozomi Okuhara from Japan to clinch the Silver. By 2017, she was ranked No.2 in the World Ranking, her career’s highest ranking. She also became the first Indian to win the Korea Open. In 2018, she won Silver in Asian Games which was India’s first Silver in Women’s Singles Badminton. She was elected as one of the ambassadors for the BWF Committee’s campaign- “I am Badminton”. She was also named BBC Indian Sportswoman of the year.

PV Sindhu's Olympics Journey:

After her terrific performances over all these years and her medal in Rio Olympics 2016; in Tokyo Olympics 2020, the country's expectations of her were very high. And she did match up to the expectations. She performed really well in the group stages and managed to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, she faced a defeat against Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Wing. She faced China’s He Bingjiao in the playoffs and clinched a win claiming a Bronze Medal in the Tokyo Olympics. She became the only Indian and fourth player worldwide to have won two medals in Women’s Singles Badminton in consecutive Olympic Games. She has created a history for herself and the country with the medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020.

PV Sindhu's Awards List:

1. She was honored with the Arjuna Award from the Government of India in 2013

2. She was honored with Padma Shri (the fourth highest civilian award in India) in 2015

3. She was honored with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (the highest sporting honor in India) in 2016

4. She was honored with Padma Bhushan (the third highest civilian honor in India) in January 2020

Other information:

PV Sindhu current coach:

PV Sindhu was getting trained under the national coach Pullela Gopichand until 2019. Mr. Park Tae Sang, a retired South Korean player is her current coach.

PV Sindhu current ranking:

As of March 2021, Sindhu is ranked No.7 in the world as per the rankings by Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Conclusion:

PV Sindhu is the epitome of what dedication towards your goal can do. She had a monomaniac focus towards her goals in Badminton, and she is seeing them become a reality. The level of achievements she has at a relatively young age of 26 is beyond the imagination of a normal person, and hence, she stands as an inspiration for the millions of Badminton-enthusiasts globally.
She also stands as an example of humility. After winning the number of medals she has won (including the two Olympic medals), and all the recognitions that she has got, it would have been easy to get carried away. But her dreams of doing more keep her grounded and focused on the sport.

What lessons do you draw from the story of PV Sindhu? How do you wish to apply those lessons in your life? Do share your answers in the comments below. What lessons do you draw from the story of PV Sindhu? How do you wish to apply those lessons in your life? Do share your answers in the comments below.