On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina’s battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
Despite her two bronze medals at the World Championship, Sindhu, meanwhile, was still considered one of the hopefuls but not a serious contender for the gold medal, partly because of her early exits from tournaments in the run-up to the Games.