Trailblazers lead the charge in India’s sporting revolution
NEW DELHI: The three women on stage were as different as chalk and cheese, or as different as badminton is to athletics is to shooting. What unites Heena Sidhu, PV Sindhu and Hima Das, however, is that they’re all champions and trailblazers not afraid to speak their mind.
They are holding the fort during a phase when, with infrastructure support better than it has ever been, noncricket sport in India is at the cusp of a revolution.
Das said she never ran after medals, as if it was the most natural thing to do. “I chase time,” said the 400m under-20 world champion on Day 2 of the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday. That, she said, was because saving even a microsecond in her sport is tough.
At the panel discussion with Sidhu and Sindhu, Das was what Ranveer Singh was in the session featuring him and actor Deepika Padukone – carefree and with the most quotable quotes. Asked how she manages the last burst of fire to come from behind and win, Das said: “Yeh Hima ka style hai (this is Hima’s style)!”
Shuttler Sindhu, the only Indian to win a silver medal at the Olympics and Asian Games in badminton, didn’t blink an eyelid when she said her relationship with compatriot Saina Nehwal, who broke the glass ceiling with an Olympic bronze in 2012, was not as warm as what she shared with Carolina Marin and Nozomi Okuhara. So what if Spain’s Marin beat her to the Olympic gold in 2016 and Japanese Okuhara beat her in the 2017 world championships final.
“They are very aggressive players but off the court, they are good friends,” said Sindhu.
CONTINUED ON P 10