NATIONAL TREASURE - Silver in her hand Gold in her heart

Vanquished PV Sindhu walked up to victorious Carolina Marin who was crouching on her knees, helped the tearful Spaniard back to her feet and they embraced each other in one of the most poignant moments at the Rio Olympics. “It is customary for opponents to congratulate each another after a game, often in a perfunctory manner. Sindhu’s warm gesture and Carolina’s equally emotional response is rare, if not unique,” said a veteran journalist. (Reuters picture)

TT, 19 August 2016: P.V. Sindhu lost the gold to World No.1 Carolina Marin but bagged India’s first silver in a woman’s individual event at the Olympics. Sindhu lost to Carolina Marin 21-19, 12-21, 15-21. The Telegraph chronicles why she was a gold winner on some counts and why she had to settle for silver

Heart of gold: The winner is in tears and the loser sports a smile. P.V. Sindhu shows the world what the Olympics are all about by putting her arms around a crouching and crying Carolina Marin in a show of undiluted admiration rare in competitive sport.

Sindhu helps Marin to her feet and the two are locked in a long embrace that has the stamp of mutual respect. As Marin warms to the cheers from the stands, Sindhu steps aside, picks up her opponent’s racquet and places it on the side court lest someone step on it by mistake.

Nerves of steel: Trailing 15-17 in the first game, Sindhu plays a 49-shot rally, matching the World No. 1 flick for flick, smash for smash. Finally, Marin plays one shot long. The best in the business can be forced to make mistakes, a 21-year-old shows India.

Stomach for a fight: From 16-19, Sindhu scores five straight points. The left-handed Spaniard who looked in control until a while ago is suddenly making mistakes. Sindhu takes the first game at 21-19. Who said Indians aren’t game for a fight?

Standout shot: Sindhu produces what will probably count as the shot of the match. At 6-9 in the final set, she takes control of the point. A rally ensues but Sindhu unleashes a brilliant backhand cross-court flick to which Marin had no answer. 

Kapil Dev tweets: LET’S NAME A STORM AFTER #Sindhu....

Rally of the match: Even when the World No. 1 is in command, she has to sweat for almost every point. Sindhu trails all through the second and third games but it never looks like she has given up or that she doesn’t have it in her. From 9-10 down in the final game, Sindhu draws level at the end of a rally that the English commentator describes as “that’s as good a rally in women’s singles as you’d ever see”.

In 31 strokes, they test each other, moving the shuttle to all parts of the court. On Stroke 30, Marin stretches full length to dig out a powerful Sindhu smash near the net but the return comes even before she can recover. 10-10.

Virender Sehwag tweets: Gold wud hv been gr8 but even in it they do mixing, out of 500gm Gold medal, 494gm is silver, but u wud know d price of dat 6 gm best, #PVSindhu.

Outshrieked: Marin is as relentless with her shrieks as with her smashes. Her hero Rafael Nadal grunts. When Marin wins a point, the cries are long. When she wants to intimidate her opponent, they are frequent and they are fired in short bursts.

Sindhu has her own variety but it is feeble in comparison.

Shriek score: Marin 35, Sindhu 23

Author Amitav Ghosh tweeted: “I’m surprised #Sindhu didn’t come prepared for the screaming. It’s Marin’s stock-in-trade — pity because she’s such a great player anyway.”

Sindhu’s father P.V. Ramana said: “Sindhu has to learn to shout and scream more to come back into the game.”

Outmuttered: Marin keeps speaking under her breath. Do-it-yourself pep talk or mind games? Her muttering is in sharp contrast to the statuesque calm of the Indian.

Outsmashed: 46-18. That’s the scoreline in favour of Marin when it comes to smashes. (Sindhu had outgunned the diminutive Japanese in the semis.) But against the more attacking Marin, she loses her natural, back-arching smash. From Marin’s racquet, the missiles are landing in every corner of the court. In the second game that virtually steals the match from Sindhu, the Spaniard plays 21 smashes. Sindhu manages only two.

Outjudged: Every time Marin lets the shuttle pass, her call is correct. The only occasion she challenges the referee’s call, she gets it right. Sindhu errs at least thrice.

Outclassed: Marin had once said her sporting ambitions were to “get a medal at the Olympic Games, be a World Champion, European Champion and to become world number 1.”

She has achieved all of the above and she is 23. She has trained as a Flamenco dancer and she brings her nimble footwork to the court. “They (Flamenco and badminton) are very different but there are some movements in dancing Flamenco, above all the fluidity of my body, that helps me play badminton,” she said.

At the final in Rio, she covers the court better and produces the better angles. Sindhu has to do a lot of running and, in the process, concedes open spaces.

PS: Would Saina Nehwal have fared better against Marin? The last time they met was in the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier in Jakarta in June this year. Marin won 24-22, 21-11.