PV Sindhu eyes World Championships gold in front of home crowd

PV Sindhu is eyeing a medal, preferably gold, at the World Championships in Delhi, saying winning at home would be special. The five-time medallist said her confidence is back after the Japan Open win and stressed resilience, preparation and consistency.

Hyderabad: For P.V. Sindhu, India’s most decorated shuttler in a World championship having won five medals including a gold in the 2019
edition,” there can be no better feeling than winning a medal, preferably gold, in front of the home crowd in Delhi” which hosts the
next edition of the championship from August 17.

“Winning a medal in Delhi will be very, very special. I have won all my medals abroad and nothing beats the feeling of standing on the
podium, if everything goes well, with the gold (with a big smile), in front of home crowds,” she said.

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The champion shuttler said that what kept her going or what separated her from the rest were her dedication, hard work and resilience
coupled with self-belief. “These are and will be the defining factors,” Sindhu said. ‘If you give up, there will be no tomorrow,” the star shuttler insisted.

“Yes, the preparations have been really good. We got two weeks time during which we essentially focussed on what to do and what to avoid.
It is always great to have a great team including strength and conditioning coach, physio and my Indonesian coach Irwansyah is just amazing,” Sindhu said in an exclusive chat with ‘Telangana Today’.

“We have to be prepared for long matches with long rallies. Earlier it was more of an attacking game and very fast. Now, things have changed and we have to adapt to this to keep winning. We are all conscious of this key factor,” she said.

“Irrespective of the draw, we are conscious of what is expected and how to face the challenges. Well, since we know the names of the likely opponents, the preparations too have been on the expected lines,” Sindhu said from Bengaluru before leaving for Delhi for the World championship.

“In a world championship, especially given the kind of preparations each top player goes through, it will be hard to point out any
clear-cut favourites,” she said.

“As always, there is no short-cut for success. You have to be there 100 percent mentally and physically, especially for such a major
championship. Accordingly, we have had some real hard training sessions with the essence of finding winning ways,” the double
Olympics medallist said.

“I don’t think I will be trying anything new in my game. The focus, as I said, will be to give off my best and nothing short. Well, not all
may win despite giving their best every time,” Sindhu said.

“There will be expectations and pressure which I cannot deny. But, I am experienced enough to shut them out and focus on the task ahead.
Like always, I would love to take it match by match by match rather than think too much for you never know anything can happen,” she said.

“The last few weeks have been really good. I believe after the Japan Open win recently, that spark and the confidence are back,” she said.

“Yes, people keep asking me what more is there for you to win. I tell you I just love this sport and can’t be away from it. I still believe I still have a lot more in me for the sport. People were critical about my age, not doing well consistently and all that stuff after a string of failures. Yes, it is upsetting but once we as a team sat together and sorted out things, things are really looking much better now. But I must say that the winning feeling is back after the Japan

Open win,” Sindhu said. “It is only a question of executive all the plans in the preparations, the strategies and more importantly being consistent which fetched me so many laurels over the years” said India’s premier women’s singles player.

Reflecting on her coach, Sindhu said that what impressed her the most about him was his passion, dedication and great efforts. Most importantly to work that extra session and the eagerness to see her win.