India's badminton star PV Sindhu did not win the gold medal she had hoped for but still managed to enter the record books on Sunday. World champion Sindhu beat China's He Bingjiao 21-13, 21-15 to win the women's singles bronze at the Tokyo Games, to add to her 2016 Rio Olympics silver medal. In the process, she became only the second Indian athlete in an individual sport to win medals in two Olympics. Also, Sindhu is only the fourth female badminton player to medal in successive Games. She now hopes to inspire the next generation of badminton players in India. "I'm sure a lot of youngsters and others will get motivated to work hard and come up," she said. "I'm sure we can do this. If I can do it, everybody can do it." Sindhu was hoping to become only the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal after shooter Abhinav Bindra, but lost to Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying in the semi-finals. The 26-year-old said she was "sad" at not being able to go for gold, but made up for the disappointment by winning bronze. "I had to close all my emotions for this one match and just give my all," she said. "I'm very happy and I think I've done really well. Getting a medal for the country is definitely a proud moment for me and also the people out there."
