2016 has been an interesting year for Indian badminton. Both Saina Nehwal and Pusarla Venkata Sindhu have taken different routes in their quest to seal their respective berth at the Rio Olympic Games. PV Sindhu began her international career after the 2012 Olympics and will make her debut in Rio this year. She is ranked tenth in the world and believes the fiercely competitive nature of the women’s circuit these days means there are no clear favourites going into a tournament. She has surpassed all shuttling greats of the country as she is recognized as the only Indian to have two World Championship medals in her list of achievements.

Qualification

The 21-year-old finished within top-16 among women’s singles players in the Badminton Asia Championships 2016. Sindhu’s spot was confirmed in the opening week of May this year along with her compatriots in the sport.

Earning the Spotlight

A 17 year old finished runner-up in the Syed Modi Indian Grand Prix held in Lucknow back in 2012. That was none other than PV Sindhu taking her first steps into the international arena. The next year she went on to lift the Malaysia Masters title, her first Grand Prix. She also received the Arjuna Award for excellence in sports from the Government of India.

There was no looking back for her anymore, she went on to the Semi’s during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and later secured a place in the history books winning her second medal at the World Championships. She is the only Indian to have achieved the laurel.

However, Sindhu is yet to win a Super Series event, badminton’s elite level of competition. Last year, she beat three top-10 players, only to succumb to Olympics gold medalist Li Xuerui.

Route to Rio

The Premier Badminton League became the premier hunting ground for PV Sindhu. She looked in good form and succeeded in winning all her matches, her impressive performance ensured a semi-final berth for her team Chennai Smashers.

She continued her impressive run at the Malaysia Masters, winning it for the second time in her career. However, she has been unable to keep her performance consistent since then. Early losses in some high-profile competitions like the All England Championships didn’t help her cause one bit. She failed to deliver on a regular basis in competitions around the world. She has suffered a first round exit at the Australian Open recently, a tournament Saina went on to win. Sindhu will be going through the paces under the national coach Pullela Gopichand in Hyderabad.

Medal Quest

Chinese shuttlers are most likely to be the strongest and the favourites on the court, but the presence of reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand and Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea, Japanese Nozomi Okuhara and Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, is certain to make Rio’s badminton courts light up with exciting matches.

Sindhu’s reputation of beating the seeded players is likely to come handy against the best shuttlers in the world.