PV Sindhu of India won the bronze medal in the women’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympics, defeating He Bing Jiao of China. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic gold with her victory. Sindhu beat Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to bounce back from her semi-final loss to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying on Saturday. She had won silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics after losing in the final to Carolina Marin of Spain. Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the only other Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals, besides Sindhu.
Sindhu came out with a purpose on Sunday after suffering a painful loss to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals on Saturday. She asserted her dominance in the bronze medal match straight from the start.
She raced out to a 4-0 lead after scoring early. He Bing Jiao fought her way back to tie the match at 5-5, then took the lead for the first time at 6-5.
Sindhu regained her composure and sent her Chinese opponent scurrying around the court. At the mid-game intermission of the first game, the Indians led 11-8.
Not only were Sindhu’s dominant smashes causing problems for He Bing Jiao but her ability to retrieve made sure that the Chinese had to work doubly hard to win points.
Sindhu’s power and guile proved just too much for Bing Jiao as the Indian took the first game 21-13.
Like in the first, Sindhu was quick out of the blocks and came out all guns blazing in the second and took a 4-1 lead, going on to open a 11-8 lead in the mid-break.
He Bing Jiao showed some fight to make it 11-11 but Sindhu once again upped the ante and started to pull away.
The Chinese tried to stay in touch but Sindhu was having none of it. The Indian star made it 19-15 to before winning two more consecutive points to finish things off.
