HYDERABAD: “She does not even have one singles title in 2018.” These words have been thrown around a lot to describe PV Sindhu’s performance this year. However, it would be harsh to judge her based solely on that. Not considering the two team events she participated in, appearances in five finals and two semis (and six quarterfinals) in 16 tournaments is testimony to the decent run she has had.
The season, however, still has one more tournament left and the lanky shuttler from Hyderabad would be itching to lay her hands on her first winner’s trophy. Come December 12, the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals will kick off in Guangzhou, China. The top-eight performers of the year qualify for this event. In preparation for one of the biggest tournaments of the year, the Rio Olympic silver medallist even skipped the recent Syed Modi International Championship in Lucknow.
With her previous outing being at last month’s (November 13-18) Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open (ousted in Round of 16 by Sung Ji Hyun), she has had ample time to train her guns on the big prize. Asked how she has been preparing for the tournament, she said: “This is the third (consecutive) time that I have qualified for the event. I know it is not going to be easy. I will have to give my 100 per cent. I reached the semis the first time. Then I made it to the final last year. Hopefully, I can win the title this time around.”
The road to the top, however, will throw a lot of challenging opponents at her, such as World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying and Spanish nemesis Carolina Marin. “There is no pressure on me. Though it is one of the most important tournaments, I would like to treat it as any other. I will have to give my best. The top eight players will be there. So everyone is equally strong. Whoever plays the best on a given day will come out on top,” the World
No 6 opined.
Top Indian shuttlers such as Sindhu and Saina Nehwal have had a hectic year courtesy the BWF rule that compels top-15 singles players to take part in at least 12 tournaments. The fact that they have had to turn up at quadrennial spectacles such as Asian Games and Commonwealth Games has made things even more frenetic for them.
Nonetheless, both have maintained an impressive resume. Sindhu reached the finals of both the events (she was overcome by Saina in the CWG final).
Sindhu, when queried about how the uber-busy schedule affected her, retorted: “The schedule has been really tight. The year has been tough for everyone, not just Indians who had Asiad and CWG as well. The key lies in choosing the tournaments in a proper way.”
Other than Sindhu, India will have representation from Sameer Verma in the men’s singles.