Heartbroken after losing the Olympics women's singles badminton final, world number one Tai Tzu Ying revealed that Sindhu's words of encouragement after the medal ceremony touched her so deeply that tears came to her eyes.

Sindhu’s grand hearted gesture came after she had herself lost to Tai Tzu in the quarter final match and had to eventually settle for a bronze.

Taiwan’s badminton star Tai took to Instagram to express her appreciation of Sindhu’s sincere encouragement when she needed it most.

“After the match, I was satisfied with my performance. Later Sindhu ran over and hugged me, held my face, and told me: I know you're uncomfortable and you've been very good, but today isn't your day. Then she held me in her arms and said she knows all about it,” Tai Tzu wrote on her Instagram account.

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“That sincere encouragement, made me cry. I was really sad because I tried really hard. Thank you again for your support and encouragement. Thank you all for walking with me till now,” Tai added.

Five years ago at the Rio Olympics, Sindhu went down fighting to Carolina Marin of Spain in the final to settle for a silver and she could perhaps see what was going on in her Tai’s mind.

On Saturday, Tai Tzu had defeated Sindhu, the reigning world champion, 21-18, 21-12 in the semi-finals, dashing her hopes of securing India’s first-ever gold medal in the game.