PV Sindhu did the nation proud. She became thefirst Indian woman to ever win a Silver medal at the Olympics. She fought hard for the gold and missed it closely when the world number one player Carolina Marin won 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 in a high-intensity final that lasted for an hour and 23 minutes at the Riocentre in Rio de Janeiro to take the gold. In the deciding game, Sindhu fought hard to erase Marin’s initial lead to trail 11-10 at the break. But she lost her momentum after the break and couldn’t catch up in the end. With the podium finish, Sindhu became the fourth Indian to win a silver at the Olympics after shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004, Athens) and Vijay Kumar (2012, London) and wrestler Sushil Kumar (2012, London). She stood on the podium, smiling politely, calm and poised.

It was here that coach Gopichand, who joined the celebrations from theback of the crowd, standing on a chair, gestured the last of his instructions for the day, to bite into the medal, as is tradition. This was a medal that meant as much to him as it did tothe shuttler. The two-time World championship bronze medallist also became the fifth woman player from India to win a medal in Olympics history and the first to clinch a silver. She is also the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Olympics. Sindhu was the darling of the crowd. She kissed the hard-earned medal.