World champion P V Sindhu revels in glory, says feeling yet to sink in
Hyderabad: After conquering the world, shuttler P. V. Sindhu is understandably in seventh heaven. However, the towering champion is keeping her feet firmly on the ground despite hectic meetings with the Prime Minister, Chief Minister among other top officials after returning with the big medal from Basel in Switzerland.
The 24-year-old admitted it took long for the achievement to sink in. “It took me a long time to digest the fact that I have become a world champion... I didn’t eat anything for a long time though,” she smiled.
She did have pre-match nerves. “I had slept very late the night before - it was a typical pre-game night and a very big match at that. I was thinking about the points, the matches I played going into the final. Fortunately, everything went well and just as I hoped it would,” the Hyderabadi said.
To see the tri-colour go up at the presentation ceremony was another goose-bumps time. “To hear the national anthem play is a wonderful feeling, any time. I don’t know why but in Basel it felt like I was on top of the world,” Sindhu, who had got emotional as she sang the national anthem on the podium, said.
Now that she’s on a song, Sindhu wants to carry the rhythm into several shuttle series. “I’ll definitely carry this confidence forward. I want to do well in the Super Series tournaments, and this being a qualification year for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, I want to give it my best,” she said.
In her moment of triumph, Sindhu does not forget the hands that shaped up her career. “I have been working with Kim Ji Hyun for the last two months. We worked on some different strokes. She found some errors and we worked together on some aspects. That has really helped me,” Sindhu elaborated.
And then there was mentor Pullela Gopichand. “His contribution has been really good... the planning and execution, everything went really well. There has been a lot of discussion on the mistakes I’m committing and how to get better. We used to play together and he used to guide me about on-court play and on improving various skills,” Sindhu added.
Sindhu also went to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Baltimore (USA) which helped her identify key challenges through the ‘Sweat Test’ and optimise performance. They also created nutrition plans and personalised her fluid recommendation.
Sindhu said she had to dig deep following losses in the finals of the 2016 Olympics as well the last two World Championships. “It was a bad feeling, but I never lost hope and was determined to do well,” she says.
“There were occasions when I felt like how many times would I lose in the finals. But I kept working harder in the hope that I would get gold one day. It was my coaches and parents who helped me get back and do well,” she explained.
