Asian Games: I believe that I can come back stronger, says PV Sindhu after quarters loss

Sindhu lost to her old nemesis He Bingjiao of China in straight games, 16-21, 12-21 in a quarterfinal clash

Hangzhou: India’s two-time Olympic medallist and former World champion P.V. Sindhu crashed out of women’s singles competition at the Asian Games here on Thursday but said getting there and feeling after a really difficult season and the only thing for her is to keep working and make a strong comeback.

Sindhu lost to her old nemesis He Bingjiao of China in straight games, 16-21, 12-21 in a quarterfinal clash, thus failing to win any medal in the Asian Games as India had failed to win a medal in the Team competition too. Sindhu won two medals in the 2018 edition in Indonesia, silver in women’s singles and bronze in Team competition.

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“It’s hard that I lost but then I am getting there, feels good. It should have been a bit more (closer). I made a few mistakes, that’s what I felt. Overall, it’s been a good game. You know that you will have to fight hard for each point in the quarterfinal,” the 28-year-old Indian told the media after her quarterfinal loss.

“But overall, I am happy that I am getting better day by day. I go work at it and come back stronger and that’s important,” said Sindhu. The slump in Sindhu’s form came after an injury she picked during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 where she won the gold medal.

Sindhu said that the important thing to do at such a time is to take one day at a time and work hard. “There are the times, especially after an injury when you don’t know what to do, what’s happening. You are in doubt, can you do it or can you not? The important thing is to just hang in there, take one day at a time, and keep working hard. I know it is easy to say, there might be losses. But after winning so many, losing you feel sad But you just to keep at it, work hard and come back stronger,” she added.

“I believe in myself that I can do it,” she said. She said in such times, it was important to have good and positive surroundings and added that she believes that she has such an atmosphere around her. “You need to be really positive, nothing less than it. I sure I will definitely come back,” she added.

She said she is working on her game which Sindhu says has to keep changing and evolving. In the run-up to the Asian Games, Sindhu had missed a couple of tournaments to move away from the game a bit but is now ready to go back and make a comeback in the upcoming season.