Hyderabad: As the nation cheered Hyderabad’s P.V. Sindhu, who stormed into the final of the women’s badminton singles at the Rio Olympic Games on Friday, the victory was extra special for a group of residents at Marredpally in Secunderabad who had known the medal prospect from her childhood days as her neighbours. A group of residents formed a support group for Sindhu, whose parents used to stay at Marredpally for many years. Some residents have created a separate group on a social networking site to support the Olympic finalist.
“P.V. Sindhu is on the verge of creating history. She is from Marredpally! She used to travel every day from Marredpally to Gachibowli for practice at 3 am! Let us all Marredpallieans cheer for her victory today at 7.30! Let us pray that this Marredpally girl makes our nation proud!!,” the campaign stated. Speaking to this newspaper, Marredpally resident N. Ramanthan said, “We are proud that our very own Marredpally girl has reached these heights. Thursday was not just a big day for her, her family and fans but for all of us as well. She has been the talk of Marredpally since she entered the semifinals. It was like watching a cricket World Cup match on Thursday evening. I know Sindhu quite well since she happens to be my granddaughter’ classmate.”
“The final on August 19 will be another big day for us. We know that she will get a medal, win or lose, but as Marredpallieans we want to see her shine with gold,” said Mr Phillip Francis, a resident of the locality in Secunderabad. Sindhu’s father P.V. Ramana used to travel 50 km twice every day from Marredpally to Gachibowli, when she used to train. Sindhu used to wake up at 3.30 am since her pre-teens to get to the academy in time for the earliest training batch that coach P. Gopichand used to hold for his junior wards. It is also said that Sindhu first started practising and playing at the GHMC coaching camps.
