PV Sindhu has won India's second medal of the 2016 Rio Olympics, but it isn't the one she, her coach P Gopichand and all those who tuned into the gold medal women's singles badminton match at the Riocentro on Friday wished for. Sindhu, tenth in the global rankings, lost to Spain's Carolina Marin, ranked No 1, 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 to settle for silver.

Defeat will sting Sindhu, for she had rallied superbly to come back from 6-11 and win the first game, but it needed something far greater to beat a champion like Marin, who has done more for Spanish badminton than Rafael Nadal has for tennis. Marin dreamt of an Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro and made it a reality with some high-quality badminton. Sindhu can carry her head high.

Indeed, it is a remarkable achievement for the 21-year-old shuttler at her first Olympic games, coming as it did with five wins in a row, the last two of which came over the world No 2 and No 5 respectively. On the biggest day of her career, Sindhu never stopped fighting and has won the biggest prize in the history of Indian badminton - an Olympic silver, to go past Saina Nehwal's bronze four years ago in London.

(TOI)