JOIN USHeaping high praise on PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik for winning medals at the Rio Games, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday said that it was the beginning of a wonderful journey for the duo.
He was speaking at a function here where silver-medallist shuttler PV Sindhu and bronze-winning grappler Sakshi Malik along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand were presented BMW cars.
“Your preparation, sacrifices are praiseworthy, I know that Sindhu was not allowed to eat certain things, no mobile phone, till the games are over so that she could focus,” Tendulkar said. “This is a wonderful moment for Indian sports. I hope the journey doesn’t stop here but begins here, we all will join the journey and support you and you give us occasions to celebrate a number of achievements. The entire nation is jumping with joy now,” he remarked.
Praising coach Gopichand, Tendulkar said that he was a coach who was always in the background and a role model.
Tendulkar, who was the Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics, handed over the keys at a function at the Gopichand Badminton Academy.
While Sindhu and Gopi received BMW 320 Ds that cost around Rs 40 lakh each, Sakshi and Deepa received compact cross over BMW X1s priced at around Rs 30 lakh each.
On the occasion, Gopichand said, “The three ladies have made fantastic efforts. ‘Save the Girl Child’ was the norm, but now it is ‘saved by the girl’ (post results in Rio Olympics). Thank you very much for keeping our honour and pride.”