Rio, Aug 18 (TOI) : For the second time in less than 24 hours, India have been assured an Olympic medal. Earlier on Thursday, wrestler Sakshi Malik ended nearly two weeks of frustration, disappointment and hurt at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when she became the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal, and only the fourth female athlete from the country to stand atop a podium at the pinnacle of world sport.

PV Sindhu guaranteed that she would become the fifth, having beaten Japan's Nozomi Okuhara - ranked fifth in the world - in straight sets 21-19, 21-10 spanning 51 minutes in the semi-finals of the women's badminton singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The first Indian in an Olympics badminton final — say it again, and let the words roll of your tongue as you do.

Sindhu will now play Carolina Marin, the world No 1, in the final on Friday at 19:30 IST.

For the record, Sindhu had beaten Marin 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 across 72 minutes in last year's Denmark Open final - her first win over the Spaniard in four outings.

Sindhu, the last of India's shuttlers at the Games, dominated the first game with some beautiful backhand flicks and cross-court smashes. The initial exchanges were close, as underlined by margins of 5-3, 6-4 and 7-4, but as the game progressed Sindhu's stamina and strength came to the fore. A fierce smash down the left side of her opponent's court set up a five-point advantage. Repeatedly pushed back, and twice falling to the floor, Okuhara had a few tough moments but still rallied to make it 13-15 before an error in judgement in front of the net put Sindhu three points ahead. The Japanese shuttler did not buckle, to her credit, but was struggling by the time the first game ended 21-19 in Sindhu's favour after 27 minutes.