Sindhu and Gopichand receive grand welcome at Hyderabad

For once, VVIPs jostled like ordinary sports fans to receive Olympic silver medalist P V Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand

For once the VVIPs of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments jostled with each other like ordinary sports fans to receive Olympic silver medalist P V Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand and present them with flower bouquets and shawls as the duo returned from Rio this morning to a grand welcome organised by the state government.

A large contingent of Telangana ministers and public representatives led by minister K T Rama Rao and a team of AP ministers led by deputy chief minister China Rajappa among other officials and sports personalities in the city received the badminton star as she stepped out of the airport with the kind of fanfare that only top film stars or leaders typically enjoy.

Hundreds of students, sports enthusiasts and people waved the badminton star and her coach as they travelled standing on an open top bus in a rally filled with dozens of red and blue VIP beacon cars from the airport to Gachibowli Stadium covering more than 30 km distance.

The state government hosted a colorful reception for Sindhu at the stadium amidst song and dance programmes by teams of artists. Police bands played inspirational themes on this occasion.

The badminton star received a rousing reception at the stadium as flowers were showered on Sindhu from atop the stadium as she went around to greet the crowds. Thousands of students, parents and sports fans, who had been waiting since morning, raised slogans and chanted Sindhu's name in unison.

On Saturday, Telangana chief minister Chandrasekhara Rao announced a cash reward of Rs 5 crore for Olympic silver medalist and Rs 1 crore for her coach Gopichand for winning the country' first Olympic silver medal in women's category. Earlier AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had announced a Rs 3 crore cash reward, besides offering a 1000 square yard residential plot in the upcoming capital Amaravati and a Group-1 government job Sindhu.

As Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal too announced a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh for Hyderabad girl, Telangana chief minister quickly reciprocated the gesture of his counterpart by offering a similar cash reward to Haryana's Sakhsi Malik, the only other person who won the medal in Rio Olympics.

Neighbourly rivalry also played out in announcing the rewards for Sindhu as AP chief minister sought to take credit for the latest achievement of the Hyderabad athlete as Gopichand's badminton academy was set up in a plot given for this purpose during his tenure as chief minister in the undivided state.

Sindhu was the second Olympic medalist produced Gopichand's academy. Saina Nehwal, who also trained at the same facility. had won the bronze medal in London Olympics in 2012. The Andhra government is also hosting a similar reception for Sindhu in Vijayawada on Tuesday.