Wishing best of luck to ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu ahead of her women's singles final against World No. 1 Carolina Marin, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said that the was very excited for the match and expressed hope that India will finally bag a gold.
"I'm extremely happy and excited about today's match. PV Sindhu is going to be playing the finals and I don't want to miss that. We will all be praying for her success. I also think Sakshi has done really well and made us proud. Few results have been not to our liking. But all these things happen in sports, ups and downs are always there," Sachin told the media here.
Asserting that he is thankful to the entire nation for supporting the Indian contingent at Rio, the masterblaster added that continued support was integral to India's campaign at the Olympics.
"If things are not going our way, we need to find ways to make things better and that can only happen if we continue to support them. Let's hope we get a gold," he said.
The 21-year-old lanky shuttler from Hyderabad produced a perfect blend of power and precision to register a 21-19, 21-10 win over reigning All England singles champion Nozomi Okohura of Japan in a thrilling women's singles contest on Thursday.
With the win, she has become the second Indian player in badminton to win an Olympic medal after Saina Nehwal, who had clinched bronze in London four years ago.
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Sindhu will take on Spain's Carolina Marin in the final later in the day in her bid to become the first Indian shuttler to win a Gold or Silver medal in the prestigious quadrennial event.
Sindhu also became the fifth Indian woman to clinch a medal in Olympics history after Karnam Malleswari, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and Sakshi Malik.