PV Sindhu created history last month when she became the only Indian badminton player to win two Olympic medals. After earning the silver at Rio in 2016, the shuttler once again had herself a podium finish, this time in Tokyo.

With this accomplishment, Sindhu has surpassed all the other badminton players who came before her - well, at least in terms of how prestigious their awards are. And surely enough, the 26-year old deserves all the credit that she has been getting in the recent past.

If there is one man, in all of India, who might be as happy as Sindhu and her family members, it has to be her former coach and the legendary Pullela Gopichand. Although the two parted ways a couple of years ago, and Sindhu says that it was because she wanted to practice in a bigger stadium, many incidents have fueled the speculations of a rift between the student and her former master.

Nonetheless, when the Hyderabad-born ace athlete defeated China’s He Bingjiao to win the bronze medal, Gopichand was among the first ones to wish her on her big day, and for a moment, everything seemed to be great and like a dream in the Indian badminton fraternity. 

PV Sindhu Saina Nehwal

• Olympic medal match.
• opponent.#Badminton Women's Singles Bronze secured. #London2012 #Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/bCFyqlZrdB

And then, Sindhu was asked about her senior, Saina Nehwal and things went back to nasty speculations.

According to a report by The Times of India, here’s what Sindhu said after she was asked about who called congratulated her after winning the medal:

"I always saw the talent in her, even at the young age of eight. And through the years, despite being so young, she always repaid my faith in her." - Pullela Gopichand on #PVSindhu

Little PV Sindhu with her mother, sister and legendary coach Gopichand. pic.twitter.com/aK9CHyYND8

"Of course, Gopi sir wished me congrats. That's all. I haven't seen the social medal. I am slowly replying to everybody. Gopi sir messaged me, Saina no. We don't talk much, so..."

While Sindhu seems to be on the rise, Saina’s downfall ever since 2019 is becoming more and more evident with time with her missing out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 being the final nail in the coffin. Since 2019, Nehwal has played in 17 tournaments that belonged to the Olympic 2020 cycle while playing 28 matches during this time. She’s won 11. That’s a winning percentage of 39.3%.

View the full article