The one hour and 11 minutes hard-fought battle for victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix Gold (GPS) fetched city girl PV Sindhu her first Grand Prix gold. “It took me a while to even realise that I had won it. Till the 21st point I was extremely nervous. But, when it happened, it took me a while for the news to sink in. I am extremely happy about it,” the teenager expressed.
Quite the humble person she is, she shared her credit with her family and the coach. “It’s because of Gopi sir that I am here. And also because of my parents who have supported me so much,” she said. So, is this win, extra special for her? “Well, every time I win, it is exciting. But, this win has definitely made me more confident.”
In the last few weeks, the shuttler has also been a part of two tough tournaments. A quarterfinal finish at the Badminton Asia Championship, in which she won against Chinese Wang Shixian in the pre-quarters, followed by the India Open in New Delhi, where she played till the semi-finals.
When asked about her relationship with Saina Nehwal, Sindhu replied, “Saina is a great player and we practice together. Whenever I come back from a tournament, we discuss how the game went sometimes. It is always nice with her.”
Currently placed World No 13 in the under-17 category, this champion wishes to break into the World top 10 by the year-end.
“I am playing my best and have given my 100 per cent in every match. It depends upon my opponents as well. Some are easy to win against, while some are very challenging. So, it all depends at that moment. Right now, I am working on improving my game and will try and win as many as possible. My dream is to be World No. 1,” Sindhu mentions.
So, who is her role model? “It is Gopi sir,” she said without a second thought. Having trained under him for over nine years now, she definitely looks up to her coach.
“She was eight, when she started training. Her dad would drop her at the academy everyday from Secunderabad, but in 2008 when she started training at the academy, they moved to Gachibowli for her. It has been a nine-year journey with her. She is doing good and I am happy,” said her coach Pullela Gopichand.
When asked if they were eyeing an Olympic dream yet, Gopichand replied, “Right now she is 17, an age where I want to focus on her development as a player. Work on her strengths and weaknesses and better her game even more. We want to take this slowly by focusing on tournaments and championships in the future. It is not result-oriented right now. I want to give her two more years to focus on her game, test her endurance and then see how it goes.”
Being the coach for Saina and Sindhu, Gopichand definitely has more responsibility.
“Both are playing their best. While Saina is an introvert with her own small group of friends, Sindhu loves talking to people. Though different, both show a good quality of fighting,” he said.