PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in the Olympics. Spain’s Carolina Marin beat her 21-19, 12-21, 21-15 at the badminton final on Thursday.

Prior to the Games, she said, “The biggest dream I am chasing now is an Olympic medal. I remember watching Saina in London. Then I was ranked World No. 25. I always longed to be there and I am all excited to represent India in Rio.” She broke into the Top 20 in 2012, and is currently ranked no. 10 in the world

About PV Sindhu

She first made her mark in the badminton circles in 2013. She won her maiden grand prix gold at the Malaysian Open, went on to win the first of her hat-trick of titles at the Macau Open. The bigger reward in the form of Arjuna award was the icing on the cake.

With former volleyball players for parents — her father Ramanna is an Arjuna awardee — it is only natural that sports had always been her calling. But why badminton? Inspired by her iconic mentor, Pullela Gopichand’s exploits on court, she started wielding the racquet at the age of eight. She was awarded the FICCI Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year in 2014 and NDTV Indian of the Year 2014, the year in which she won her second consecutive medal at the World Championships.

In March 2015, P.V. Sindhu became the youngest recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour.

She is the second-highest-ranked women’s singles player from India after Olympic bronze medalist and No. 2 Saina Nehwal.