Two silver medals at the world championships. Another at the Commonwealth Games. One more at the Olympics. The idiom ‘always a bridesmaid, never a bride’ would have applied perfectly to P. V. Sindhu till she won the gold medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships – a moment that was announced as Moment of the Decade at the 2021 Sportstar ACES Awards on Sunday.
In August 2019, Sindhu erased every painful memory of the past 10 years when she put forth a commanding performance to defeat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in Basel, Switzerland, becoming the first India shuttler to be crowned world champion. But her journey to gold had it share of difficulties, too. In the quarterfinals, Sindhu had to come back from a game down against one of the most deceptive players the games has seen, Tai Tzu-ying.
“Firstly, I would like to thank Sportstar for giving me these awards. I must say Sportstar has been very, very encouraging and supportive all the time, not only for me but all the athletes. When I was young, they always used to support and encourage the players. I would like to thank the jury members and Sportstar for giving me the Moment of the Decade for winning the world championships. It was a wonderful moment to cherish,” said Sindhu, who also received the Sportswoman of the Decade (Racquet Sports) honour.
The 2021 edition of the Sportstar ACES Awards honoured the Giants of the Decade in Indian sport, with the winners being assessing on their performance and consistency from 2011 to 2020. Eleven awards were presented under the popular choice category, which was open to public voting, along with 14 jury awards as well as special recognition awards under two new categories – Sports for Good and Giants off the Field – that recognise the work of organisations and individuals who have used sports for the betterment of society.
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