Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu,bronze winner wrestler Sakshi Malik along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand were presented with BMW cars by Sachin Tendulkar at a function in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Tendulkar, who was the Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian team at Rio Olympics, handed over the keys at a function at Gopichand Badminton Academy.
Upon receiving the keys of her BMW car, Sindhu was elated. “I was promised by Sachin sir earlier that if I get a medal at the Olympics, he will gift me a BMW car. He kept his promised today, Thank you sir,” Sindhu said.
Sindhu’s coach Gopichand had an interesting take on India’s performance at Rio Olympics. “No more ‘Save Girl Child’, this time (in Rio) we were saved by girl child,” he said.
Wrestler Sakshi Malik said she would aim to change the colour of the medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “This time in Rio I won bronze medal, but in Tokyo I will surely aim for gold,” Sakshi said.
‘Wonderful moment for Indian spot’
Tendulkar, speaking on the occasion, said he was proud of the achievements of the star trio.
“I am proud to stand beside these sportspersons (pointing towards Sindhu, Sakshi and Dipa). They have brought laurels to the country,” he said.
“We have supported them wholeheartedly. We prayed for them, blessed them. These are the things that an athlete looks forward to. This is a wonderful moment for Indian sports. Their journey begins here and I hope it will only be better as the time goes.”
Hyderabad District Badminton Association president Chamundeshwarnath gifted the luxury cars to the four sportspersons for their outstanding achievement in the recently-concluded Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Under the guidance of chief coach Gopichand, Sindhu clinched the silver medal in women’s singles making her the first Indian woman sportsperson to win a silver in the Olympics. Wrestler Sakshi had bagged a bronze in women’s freestyle 58kg class.
Dipa who missed a medal by a whisker, had finished fourth in the vault event and stunned the world by attempting the risky Produnova vault.
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