TAP TO UNMUTE

In a major goof up, An All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA called Olympic medal winning shuttler PV Sindhu a 'National Volleyball' player right before the start of a 5K run event on Friday in Hyderabad's Charminar area.

The video of the whole incident has gone viral on social media, and people have come down hard on the MLA for not even knowing the sport she plays. In the video, the MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan seemed confused just before he made the blunder.

Even after consulting with the Hyderabad Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali, the MLA promptly said, "We are thankful to PV Sindhu, the volleyball player who has represented Hyderabad on an international platform."

While Sindhu did not react to the gaffe and put up a straight face, such errors on part of the country's leaders clearly suggest that they are ignorant about development of sports in the country.

Adding to this incident, earlier the same MLA had told that Sindhu would be given a better coach but the young Olympic medallist denied the offer, saying "Gopi (Pullela Gopichand) sir is the best."

She has continued her great run from last year's Olympics, where she became the first Indian shuttler to win a silver medal in the singles badminton category. She recently became the second Indian woman to be ranked amongst the top five players in the BWF World Ranking for Women.

It is shameful that this politician forgot her name despite her stellar achievements, and what makes it worse is the fact that he was the one to offer her a 'better coach' after she bagged the silver medal.