Saturday 27th Jul, 2024
NEW DELHI: Second best in Rio 2016 and runner-up in the world badminton championships on Sunday, PV Sindhu agrees it will take some more work to reach pure gold standard.
The 22-year-old from Hyderabad played the second longest women’s singles match in Glasgow. At the end of an hour and 50 minutes of a hotly contested and tactically marvellous world badminton championships final, Sindhu went down 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara. It broke a billion dreams.
While Okuhara took the first gold for Japan from the world championships since 1977, Sindhu settled for yet another silver after also losing the Olympic gold medal to Spain’s Carolina Marin last year.
On Monday, when the entire nation, well almost, was celebrating her silver, Hindustan Times critically analysed Sindhu’s performance since the Rio high and why she has choked on the biggest platforms.On Tuesday, Sindhu admitted to Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview that winning gold and silver in a world championship is not the same.
“I am happy that I have changed the colour (of the medal) but I thought it could have been a gold, but I just missed it,” said Sindhu, the pain of losing a tantalisingly close final, still fresh.
The Pullela Gopichand-coached Sindhu had clinched bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 world championships. She is the only Indian shuttler to have three world championships medals in her kitty.I fought really hard but just missed it (the title) by two points. I am a bit upset but then never mind. I think I have to learn a lot more and come back stronger,” she told this reporter.
Admission of failure is the hallmark of a champion and if Sindhu can learn from her mistakes, she will be on the right path to ultimate glory.
India, as a nation with negligible sporting success apart from cricket and hockey, love to celebrate defeats. Sindhu can change that mindset. She wants to.
“I have to take the positives from these matches and come back much more stronger. Winning and losing is a part of life so you keep winning and keep losing these matches,” said Sindhu.After pushing the final on Sunday into the deciding game, the Indian was leading 19-17 – only two points away from the title. However, she lost the plot to a tactically superior rival and went on to lose five of the next six points to let the championship slip away.
World No.4 Sindhu believes that it was just not her day.
“It was just a good match. It was anybody’s game. After 20-all, we really fought hard and it was just not my day, it was hers. We just gave our heart out,” said Sindhu.
In the space of one year, Sindhu has now lost two major summit clashes – in Rio and Glasgow. Which loss hurts her more?
“It is completely different. I really cannot compare both of them. The Olympic Games and the World Championships are totally different,” said the former World No. 2.
It may be pertinent to mention that Sindhu had defeated Okuhara 21-19, 21-10 in the semifinal in Rio. While Okuhara can pride herself with the Glasgow gold, Sindhu will have work to do.
neThe good thing is that she is not getting swayed by accolades from a billion people with limited aspirations.