PBL 2018: Saina Nehwal and I share a 'Hi-Bye' relationship, says PV Sindhu

What's the story?

PV Sindhu was adamant that her rivalry with Saina Nehwal is restricted to badminton courts while explaining the nature of her relationship with the former World No.1. Interestingly though, Sindhu said that her personal relation with Saina is mostly restricted to a "Hi-bye" affair.

In case you didn't know

Both Saina and Sindhu have been at the forefront of Indian badminton for some time now, with the former winning bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, while the latter won silver in Rio 2016.

The heart of the matter

However, when it comes to off the court friendship, it seems that its mostly about "Hi and bye".

“We’re friends, like hi-bye… and that’s it,” said Sindhu was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times. “We actually play together during practice but there’s not much time to get interactive and talk to each other because we have our training sessions, so there’s no real time where we can sit and talk.”

The Rio Olympics silver medalist continued, “Rivalry is always there. When you play on the court, everybody wants to win, both have the aggression to win. The rivalry is good in a way, everybody has that nowadays.”

She further played down her rivalry with the World No.10 by saying “You just need to play your game and keep going, that’s what I feel and when people talk about the rivalry, it is nothing but just a fight in the match — that is required. Everyone would do that, it is not a big issue.”

What's next?

Saina would play for the Awadhe Warriors against Ahmedabad Smash Masters on Tuesday where she is most likely to face Tai Tzu-ying, while Sindhu would be playing for her franchise Chennai Smashers against Delhi Dashers on Wednesday and would be facing Sung Ji-hyun in the women's singles match.

Sportskeeda's take

It is great to see that two of the best badminton players of the same generation and opponents on court have a healthy relationship between them.