SHINING SINDHU: Fights hard in thrilling final; becomes first Indian woman athlete to win silver

THE MUCH-AWAITED OLYMPICS FINAL between Indian hope, PV Sindhu, and Spaniard Carolina Marin went in favour of the latter who won a tightly contested match, prevailing over the ninth seed 19-21, 21-12, 21-15.

Both shuttlers created history as Marin becomes the first European woman athlete to win a gold medal while Sindhu becomes the first Indian woman athlete to win a silver medal at the Olympics.

This was also the first ever Olympics finals of women's singles category in which no Chinese shuttler featured. It was a battle between two aggressive shuttlers on court. Both taking the stage to create history for their respective countries.

Sindhu got a good start, but then the World No. 1 picked up the pace and ran away with the points. Just when one thought that the first game was going in favour of the Spaniard, Sindhu turned the result of the first game in her favour. From being down 13-16 to winning the first game 21-19 was absolutely amazing from the 21-year-old.

Marin started the second game in a very determined fashion winning four straight points and adding pressure on the Indian. Too many errors from Sindhu saw Marin with a huge 11-2 lead at the interval. From here on, the World No. 1 didn't let go and easily won the second game to push the match into a decider.

The final game was a close one, though marin looked more in control of the game. Only the tenacity of Sindhu kept the match on tenterhooks. Towards the business end of the match, pressure mounted on both but the big match experience of the Spaniard was the difference between gold and silver for the Indian.