ADRIJA BISWAS, a resident of Jadavpur, has a Pusarla Venkata Sindhu connect - she shared dorm-space with the Indian Olympic shero at a badminton camp five years ago. On Friday, the second-year English honours student of St. Xavier's College, was glued to the TV cheering on the champ in Rio. After the gold was lost and silver won, she told Metro about The Sindhu Show.

I sat down to watch the finals on Friday with my heart in my mouth. After all, the girl going for gold for India was the one I had shared a dorm with for a month back in 2011.

When I first saw P.V. Sindhu at the Gopichand Academy (in Hyderabad), she wasn't as good a player as Saina Nehwal, who was also training under Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand). I had gone for a month-long camp to the academy, as an Under-17 national-level player, and I saw them training there.

But the way Sindhu was playing in the Olympics, I was sure she was going to win a medal for India.

She did win the first game against Carolina Marin, the world number one, but in the next two games she seemed tense. And at one point, she lost her concentration. I noticed that Marin was taking a lot of time to serve. She was doing it to distract Sindhu.

Sindhu's game revolves around her smash. Her smashes are too good. But Marin was not allowing her to smash. She had clearly studied Sindhu's game very well and forced her to make a lot of errors. No wonder she is world number one.

Sindhu was far more aggressive in the semis, against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. In the final, she seemed tentative. After winning the first game she should have played with more confidence. But then she was up against a far better player than in the semis.

Watching Sindhu at Olympics, I am missing badminton. I love badminton but I have not been able to play for the last year-and-a-half because of a ligament tear that I suffered during college trials. I had to undergo surgery for that. I have just slowly started getting back and every match I watch motivates me to try harder; Sindhu's triumph at Rio more than anything else will spur me on.

I remember Sindhu and Saina didi training at the Gopichand Academy. I was in Class VIII then and they were already international players so we didn't interact that much. Saina didi was a big star and so I took pictures with her and spoke to her a bit.

Sindhu's bed, I remember, was next to mine in the 12-bed dormitory where we used to rest after practice and also after lunch. She was a quiet and reserved sort of person who didn't talk much. She would lie in bed, fiddle with her phone and talk to her family and friends.

I remember seeing both Sindhu and Saina didi practising with the boys to build their stamina and skill. On Wednesdays, we used to have free time in the evening and we would go for a run. After that we would play cricket. Sindhu and Saina didi would also play. That was their go-to sport for leisure.

What do I want to tell Sindhu? Thank You for putting badminton in the top spot with your performance in the Olympics. Badminton is not a glamour sport but now the country is taking note. I love how confident and aggressive you are on court. I hope you continue to put the sport in the spotlight and inspire girls like me to give badminton their best shot.

(As told to Chandreyee Chatterjee)