HYDERABAD : A rousing reception awaits India’s latest poster girl, P V Sindhu, when she arrives at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, near here tomorrow.
A grand State-sponsored felicitation has been finalised for the epoch-making Indian shuttler, whose Olympian exploits brought smiles to the Indian camp in what is generally considered as the country’s worst Olympics showing in recent years.
The 21-year-old Hyderabad girl, together with Haryana wrestler Sakshi Malik, salvaged Indian prestige at the greatest sports spectacle on earth when she defied all odds in a roller-coaster giant-killing spree that translated into a spectacular silver medal in the women singles at Rio de Janeiro.
Accompanied by her coach Pullela Gopichand and her parents, Sindhu will be taken in a colourfully-decked open-top cavalcade to lusty cheers along the route, made more festive-like to the sound of drums-beats and bursting of crackers.
After what is presumed to be a 60-minute drive, or perhaps more, the first stopover will tentatively be the Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium where, among others, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Cabinet colleagues will accord her a befitting welcome.
It is likely that the Chief Minister will either give the reward cheque for Rs three crore there itself or announce a date for a bigger function where she will also be given the land documents.
It is only after the official ceremony that the two-time World Championship bronze medalist will be heading to the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGDA) in Gachibowli where she will interact with fellow-trainees and Media.
Celebrities from the sports fraternity and tinsel town were expected to be among the guests on the occasion. (AGENCIES)