Sindhu returns to hero's welcome

Ace shuttler P V Sindhu, who has done the country proud by winning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, was given a hero’s welcome on her arrival here on Monday.

The city wore a festive look as hundreds of sports lovers and schoolchildren gathered to greet the badminton champion and her coach Pullela Gopichand as they were taken in a procession from the international airport in Shamshabad to GMC Balayogi Stadium at Gachibowli, where a grand felicitation was organised by the Telangana government.

Amid scenes of jubilation, 21-year-old Sindhu was accorded a rousing welcome by Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali and ministers K T Rama Rao and Talasani Srinivasa Yadav. The Andhra Pradesh government sent Minister Devineni Umamaheswar Rao and Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani as its representatives to welcome Sindhu.

Sindhu, Gopichand and her parents P V Ramana and Vijaya boarded Nilambari, an open deck double-decker bus procured from the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport, for the victory rally.

The Telangana government has already announced a Rs 5-crore cash award and 1,000 square yard housing site in the city for Sindhu. It also announced a cash prize of
Rs 1 crore for Gopichand. The Andhra Pradesh government has offered the shuttler a cash award of Rs 3 crore and a residential plot of the same size in Amravati.