‘Only one match at a time’

P.V. Sindhu has been in sublime form ever since she won a silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016 but loss in the finals in world championship, Hong Kong Open and Dubai Super Series final raised many eyebrows and critics started questioning her ability to cross the final hurdle. A win in the world championships in Nanjing, China, may redefine her career and shrug off the unwanted tag of “chokers” once and for all, and the 23-year-old looks all geared up for the big challenge.

On being asked about how well she is prepared for the tournament , Sindhu told The Sunday Guardian, “I am happy and yes we are leaving for the games on Saturday. All set and excited, looking forward for it and hope to do well and give my best. Preparations wise everything is good and it’s just one match at a time and I think in the women’s circuit all are the same and it’s just that on that day who plays well and give their best.”

It has almost been a year since Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and Sindhu joined to play what many believe is the greatest badminton match of all time. The match raged on for 110 minutes, and this time the two players are scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals. Talking about her duel with her, she said, “She (Okunhara) is a good rally player and she is playing well and it is never easy games with her so I need to play with more patience and be alert on court.”

Come  18 August  and the Indian contingent will be up against one of the best in the Asian Games. For Sindhu, this competition may rightly serve as a medium of warming up before the the big challenge but she seems to focus on “one game at a time.”

“It’s just step by step, I think. It’s the world championship first and then the Asian games,” the world no. 3 said.

Once a force to reckon with in world badminton, the Chinese domination is on wane in the recent times, but Sindhu says “they are doing well and they have some juniors who are playing well,” although she agrees they are not the all-conquering team they used to be. Asked about her chances of meeting her compatriot Saina Nehwal in the “Dream Final”, India’s star shuttler said, “We both are placed in different halves of the draw. So, there are chances of meeting her in the finals.”

The world championship starts on 30 July and Sidhu will meet in her first match.