Not an easy feat, says proud father

MUMBAI: The gold was lost on Friday but a new hope was born. The hope of the proud parents of a 21-year-old athlete who won the hearts of a billion Indians with a performance fitting for an Olympic final for the women’s singles badminton title.

PV Ramana and P Vijaya, par- ents of shuttler PV Sindhu, have now pinned their hopes of the elusive gold medal on the 2020 Olympics to be hosted by Tokyo.

For the time being, however, it was about a silver medal that is worth its weight in gold — put in perspective by the fact that Sindhu’s medal is only second so far for India in Rio after Sakshi Malik’s bronze in wrestling.

“It is a monumental achievement for Sindhu, she has always dreamt of winning an Olympic medal. She has worked hard for this and I am happy that she achieved it. It is not easy to win an Olympic medal — whatever colour it may be,” Ramana said at his daughter’s coach Pullela Gopichand’s academy at Gachibowli.