‘The most special one…’: PV Sindhu ahead of hunt for unprecedented Olympic hat-trick in Paris

Sindhu on Thursday – a day before the opening ceremony of the Games, posted a photo on her Instagram handle on the court in Paris. “Paris 2024, the most special one yet,” she said in her caption to the pic.

While she has a reputation of leaving any kind of poor form behind her when participating in major tournaments, Sindhu goes into the 2024 Games on the back of a far weaker buildup than in either of her two previous appearances in Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo, where she won silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021 respectively. She had been on the sidelines for a lengthy period after winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games due to a knee injury.

Since returning to action, Sindhu has a win-loss record of 15-9, struggling to make it out of the first rounds in most tournaments. However, there have been bright sparks going into these Olympics. Sindhu reached the final of the Malaysia Masters in May and came close to beating her great rival Carolina Marin for the first time in six year in Singapore.

A favourable group for Sindhu

The badminton events start on July 27, a day after the opening ceremony, and Sindhu’s campaign in women’s singles begins a day after that. She has been drawn into a favourable group along with Kristin Kuuba of Estonia and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of the Maldives, both of whom are ranked miles below Sindhu.

She could face He Bing Jiao, whom she beat in the bronze medal in Tokyo, in the round of 16 and then could be up against reigning gold medallist Chen Yu Fei, who unlike Sindhu has been in very good form, in the semifinals. Both players have won six games each against each other but Sindhu might just be the underdog going into that match.