PV Sindhu, the 20-year-old badminton star is all set to have a go at her dreams to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympics later this year. Recently conferred with the fourth highest civilian award in India, The Padma Shri, the shuttler had a great end to 2015.
Coming back from an injury, she found some much-needed form during the end of the year. She reached the final of the Denmark Open and then rounded off the year with a win at the Macau Grand Prix Gold- her third straight crown there. The 2016 Olympics is the first time that the Hyderabadi might be representing India at the Olympics.
One of the biggest buys at the Premier Badminton League (PBL), which is scheduled to start today, Sindhu has a lot of hopes riding on her. She got the second highest bid after Saina Nehwal. “I am not in the crore club yet, I am still paid in lakhs,” the badminton star said with a chuckle and a grin.
Speaking about her plans for the Olympics this year, Sindhu made it clear that she would accept nothing less than a gold at Rio.
“It's the qualifying year, and all tournaments are important.” The qualifying period is open till the first quarter of the year. The twenty-year-old assertively added, “I don't want to settle for anything less than gold at the Olympics.”
One of the brightest faces for the Chennai franchise for the 2016 edition of the PBL, Sindhu is aware of her short comings as well. "I am not sure if I can call it (her height) a weakness exactly. I have begun noticing of late that my opponents are handing me low shots. They play by the logic that I will have to work a lot harder to reach lower. So, right now, I am working on this particular challenge with my coach (Pullela Gopichand). I want to do everything right to prep for the Olympics."
The once shy teenager with an awkward set of movements of her limbs but now, a confident young woman is also aware that she gets too worked up during her matches. Sindhu has defeated players ranked higher than her but after having taken the lead in some matches with players lower than her in the rankings, she lost those matches. “Here is where I think the problem is. Once I start missing points in a row, I tend to make more errors because in my head I begin to think, 'Oh God! What's happening? Why am I losing?' But trust me, I am working on this. I think a sportsperson gains mental strength with experience.”
The two-time World Championships bronze medallist is currently ranked at number 12. She feels that had it not been for her injury, which kept her out of all the action for almost three months, she would have had a better ranking. “I see myself grabbing the No. 1 ranking sometime soon,” Sindhu said. The chances of that happening seem very likely as the ace badminton star ended the year winning the Macau open title for the third consecutive year.
