Badminton star PV Sindhu turns 25, Twitterati extends birthday greetings

In 2016, Sindhu became the first-ever female athlete from India to clinch a silver medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Image Credits: Twitter/@Pvsindhu1

Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu turned 25 on Sunday and countless fans took to social media to extend warm birthday greetings to the Indian shuttler.

On the occassion of PV Sindhu's birthday, fans took to Twitter and left no stone unturned to express their love for her. Infact, #pvsindhu was trending on the micro blogging site on Sunday.

While some fans have shared heartfelt wishes for the Indian shuttler, the others have uploaded pictures of Sindhu from the badminton court.

Sharing a picture of Sindhu holding Indian flag, a Twitter user wished the badminton star by saying that the nation needs women like her.

"Happy #pvsindhu.Our Country Needs Women Like You. Long live, More Power, Respect," the user tweeted.

Happy #pvsindhu

Our Country Needs Women Like You. Long live, More Power, Respect  pic.twitter.com/tEDRP4dndE

— Bhatakta Tweet (@BhataktaTweet) July 5, 2020

Another user listed down some of the achievements of Sindhu along with a collage of the Padma Shri winner.

"Happy Birthday #PVSindhu.She is the first Indian women to win a Olympic Silva Medal.A badminton world champion and as will as Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan award
#PrideOfIndia," he tweeted.

Happy Birthday #PVSindhu
She is the first Indian women to win a Olympic Silva Medel.
A badminton world champion and as will as Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan award#PrideOfIndia pic.twitter.com/55SU4AnbDo

— Manish Biswas (@ManishB93789678) July 5, 2020

A Twitter user named Soham Parmar shared a picture of Sindhu holding the silver medal at Rio Olympics and wished the badminton star on her special occassion.

He wrote, "Pride of India, Pride of Indian Badminton.#pvsindhu, the name's enough!Happy Birthday ma'am. Your Rio memories are immortal for all the Indians."

Pride of India, Pride of Indian Badminton.#pvsindhu, the name's enough!

Happy Birthday ma'am. Your Rio memories are immortal for all the Indians. pic.twitter.com/PSSaomkuP8

— Soham Parmar (@Defier_52) July 5, 2020

"#pvsindhu #HappyBirthdayPVSindhu, Pride Of Our Nation, Young Women's Inspiration, First Olympic Silver Medalist Of Badminton, First Gold Medalist Of World Badminton Championship, First Indian to Won 5 Medals From World Badminton Championship HBD @Pvsindhu1," another user tweeted.

#pvsindhu #HappyBirthdayPVSindhu
Pride Of Our Nation 
Young Women's Inspiration
First Olympic Silver Medalist Of Badminton
 First Gold Medalist Of World Badminton Championship
 First Indian to Won 5 Medals From World Badminton Championship
HBD @Pvsindhu1 pic.twitter.com/srSc5ruOcx

— SakthiBala (@SakthiBala141) July 5, 2020

Born on July 5, 1995 in Hyderabad, Sindhu got the first taste of badminton from national chief coach and former India shuttler Pullela Gopichand. She began playing badminton as early as at the age of eight before joining Gopichand's Badminton Academy in Telangana. 

Sindhu stepped into the international arena in 2009 with the Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships in Colombo, where she bagged a bronze medal. It was Sindhu's first-ever international medal under the guidance of Gopichand. 

It was in 2013 when Sindhu lifted her first Grand Prix gold by defeating Gu Juan of Singapore in the summit showdown of the Malaysian Open. She continued her momentum at the BWF World Championships later in that year to settle for a bronze medal. Later in the same year, Sindhu bagged Macau Open Grand Prix medal besides being awarded the Arjuna Award, one of the highest honours for any sportsperson in the country.

A year later, Sindhu scripted history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to win a medal at the BWF World Championships for two consecutive years. She once again settled for the bronze in 2014. Sindhu also appeared for the first time at the Commonwealth Games in the same year and made a semi-final finish at the tournament. 

The Indian shuttler's most memorable moment came in 2016 when she became the first-ever female athlete from the country to clinch a silver medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Sindhu, who was conferred with Padma Shri award in the same year, went down against the then world number one Carolina Marin of Spain in the final of the Olympics Games. 

In 2017, Sindhu became the first Indian to win Korean Open by defeating Japanese star Nozomi Okuhara in the finals. She then had an impressive campaign at the BWF World Championships, where she settled for a silver. A year later, she yet again settled for a silver medal at the World Championships.

Sindhu also participated at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and finished her campaign at the tournament with a gold in the mixed team event and a silver medal in the women's singles event.

In 2019, Sindhu became  the first-ever player from the country to win a BWF World Championships gold at the 2019 edition of the prestigious tournament in Basel, Switzerland. It was Sindhu's fifth medal at the World Championships, thus making her the joint-highest medal-winner in history of the women's singles event of the tournament along with two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning of China.