This is how Guru Gopi's 'five mantras' helped Sindhu lift Olympic silver

With her astounding performance at 2016 Rio Olympics, PV Sindhu is ruling the hearts of a billion Indians. Her stunning match against world no.1 Carolina Marin, in the women’s singles final on Friday that gave India its first silver medal, was a display of power, grace and determination. Under the guidance of former All-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand, Sindhu has come a long way. 

Here is the list of five ‘Guru Mantras’ that helped Sindhu reach the finals at Rio and win the silver for the country:

Punctuality - Pullela Gopichand is known to be a tough taskmaster and for years, Olympic Silver medallist PV Sindhu trained in the 4.30 am shift before other stars such as Saina Nehwal before 6 am. Gopichand's fondness of starting practice early is quite popular.

Stay away from the internet - Gopichand’s students have no access to internet and are allowed mobile phone calls only on Sundays. They don’t even venture out in the evenings as they have to be up by 4 am for the first shift of practice.

Perseverance key to success - Displaying her sheer determination, Sindhu used to travel 30 kms to reach the training academy. Dropping the 10-year-old Sindhu for the morning practice, then to school and then again for evening practice was her father’s routine for six days a week for more than 4 years before they shifted from Secunderabad.

Discipline and hard work - Six time national champion, Gopichand believes that there cannot be easy-going methods to achieve success. He believes in the ‘mantra’ that one needs to train hard, be tough on themselves and persevere day in and day out. 

Committed practice - Gopichand has won many coaching accolades including Dronacharya Award. He sternly believes in the fact that one has to be at 100 percent all the time and that needs committed practice. 

Gopichand, an All-England Badminton Champion, has given this country the cream of Indian badminton players like Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth along with PV Sindhu. 

Above everything else, Sindhu truly believes she is among the few who get to do what they love all the time. Her friends and family are all in the sport as well. It is this love for badminton, together with complete passion and the desire to win, that we have seen from Sindhu every time she has taken to the court in Rio. For the 21-year-old, the sky is the limit.