New Delhi: Newly-crowned badminton World Champion PV Sindhu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here Tuesday who called the player India’s pride.
PV Sindhu defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in the final of the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland to become the first Indian to claim a gold medal at the showpiece event. It took her medal tally to five as she had won two bronze and two silver medals in the previous editions of the tournaments.
“India’s pride, a champion who has brought home a Gold and lots of glory! Happy to have met @Pvsindhu1. Congratulated her and wished her the very best for her future endeavours (sic),” Narendra Modi tweeted after the meeting.
Sindhu was accompanied by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and national coach Pullela Gopichand among others during the meeting. She returned to the country Monday night and was welcomed by a large gathering of fans at the airport.
Earlier the Sports Minister presented a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to PV Sindhu for her historic triumph. She had met Rijiju over breakfast.
Also present on the occasion were Badminton Association of India president Himanta Biswa Sarma, coaches Pullela Gopichand and Kim Ji-Hyun and Sindhu’s father P V Ramana, a former bronze medallist in volleyball at the 1986 Asian Games. The interaction lasted for over an hour.
The minister also extended his congratulations to B Sai Praneeth besides rewarding him with a cheque of Rs 4,00,000 for winning a bronze medal at the championships, India’s first men’s singles medal at the Badminton Worlds since Prakash Padukone’s feat in 1983.
Agencies