PV Sindhu hopes winning World Tour Finals title silences her critics

Bengaluru: Badminton sensation PV Sindhu hopes winning the year-end World Tour Finals should silence her critics, who labelled her as a mere silver-winning player.

Sindhu prevailed 21-19 21-17 over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the summit clash to claim the coveted title last month in Guangzhou.

"Last year too I had entered the finals and I was not satisfied with the Finals outcome. I played positively (in 2018) and won the title. I was happy and also hoped there would not be further criticism of I being a mere silver-winning player," Sindhu told reporters here.

"I neither felt bad when I lost in the finals last year, nor criticism heaped on me, but was happy and said to myself that I was not ignominiously knocked out in the first round itself," she said.

Asked if she changed her strategy while playing in Gunagzhou, Sindhu said she played her own game and tried winning each point, because the 2017 World Champion Okuhara had given her a tough fight.

She further said the All England Badminton Championship is one of the biggest events and it "would not be easy" for any top player to win the title.

"We all have to prepare for that," she said.

But for now, she is focusing on the Indonesian Open, Sindhu said.

Talking about world number one Tai Tzu-Ying, Sindhu said the Taiwanese is a "tricky player".

"She is doing good. I was happy when I won against her in world tour finals. Definitely, it is just that who plays good on that day is a winner. You always have to be confident and positive to do things."

Asked the reason for the rise of non-Chinese players, Sindhu said it is because of equal competence among 20 top players of the world.

Replying to another query, Sindhu said she is very happy when youngsters look up to her to learn the tricks of the sport.

The health of Indian badminton is good as six players are in the top 50 list, she said.