P.V. Sindhu with her coach Pullela Gopichand during a press conference in Hyderabad. (Source: AP)
On return from World Badminton Championships at Glasgow, Scotland, PV Sindhu and coach Pullela Gopinath said that they were proud of the final game on Sunday as the head coach appreciated the entire team for a good performance adding that Sindhu will win many golds by the end of her career.
Sindhu, who returned with silver from the tournament after losing in the final to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, said that there is no such thing as Chinese dominance. “I played my game and gave my best. Everyone has their own style of play. It is not that Chinese have a different style of play, although they played really well in the tournament but everyone has a different style of play,” said Sindhu. “Fought hard but it was just not my day.”
“We have been practicing really hard. We don’t have much time between the tournaments. Before the World Championships, however, we had one and a half months. So in a way, it was nice that we got so much time to prepare.”
“Mentally and physically, it is tiring but at that time, we just think that we have to get that point. Even I was just thinking that we just need to play at the court. It was a good match. From the first point, there were long rallies. It was not like I could have saved my energy. Every rally was equally tough,” she added.
On the fans cheering the players mid-rally, Sindhu said, “I never felt that fans cheering was disturbing. It felt good that there were so many fans to cheer me on. I was focused, so there is no question of disturbance.”
Gopichand, who was also present at the interview, commented on the controversial Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth match schedules, saying, “Sometimes you’re at the wrong head. Sometimes small things affect in long matches when you need energy. I do feel that a couple of matches could have been scheduled better.”
On Sindhu’s yellow card, Gopinath said, “I think it’s a long match of 1 hr, 50 minutes. There are set of rules that are there. Different umpires interpret it differently. You need to stretch the rules as much as they permit it. Sindhu did a good job. What she did was definitely correct.”
“At 22, she has won medals for four consecutive years under her belt and by the end of her career, she will have many golds. We are very fortunate that we have players like Sindhu and Saina, who have gone up and raised the bar of fitness. A good performance from the entire team including fitness coaches.”
