Double Olympic medalist Sindhu arrives in Hyderabad to rousing welcome

Hyderabad: Star shuttler P.V. Sindhu, the only Indian woman to win two Olympic medals, arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday to a warm welcome by the Telangana government.

 Telangana Sports Minister V. Srinivas Goud and other officials accorded a warm welcome to the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist on her return to her home town.

 She had won silver in the last Olympics.

 Accompanied by her parents and Korean coach Park Tae-sang, Sindhu reached Hyderabad from New Delhi, where she had landed on Tuesday.

 As soon as she emerged out of the passenger terminal building at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, her relatives, friends and well wishers greeted her.

Sporting her trademark smile and proudly displaying the Olympic medal, Sindhu posed for dozens of photo and video journalists.

 The reigning world champion Sindhu, who had won a silver at the Rio Games five years ago, told reporters that she was very happy over winning another Olympic medal.

“I will continue to work hard in the coming days to win more awards and rewards,” she said.

The shuttler thanked the state government and all authorities concerned for extending all the help to her.

The 26-year-old won bronze medal on Sunday by defeating China’s He Bing Jiao. With this, Sindhu became only the second Indian and first woman athlete from the country to bag two Olympic medals.

The minister felicitated Sindhu, her coach and parents.

He said she brought laurels to the Telugu states and the country. Srinivas Goud said people were proud of Sidhu’s achievement.

He exuded confidence that she will win gold medal in the next Olympics.

The minister said the state government was encouraging sportspersons.

 He said the government would soon come out with a new sports policy, providing all help and encouragement to the sportspersons.