Current badminton world champion PV Sindhu revealed just how desperately she wanted to win gold during the 2019 World Championships in Basel. She had already won two silver and two bronze medals at the event in previous years but 2019 was different for her, as she beat Nozomi Okuhara and finally won the elusive title.
“At the recent World Championships, I was in the final again. I already had two bronze and two silver…and I was like I HAVE to win this match”, Sindhu told Mandhana and Rodrigues. She said that she was so desperate that she didn’t know what she would do if she lost.
“So I just wanted to give my 100%. I didn’t want people to say ‘Silver Sindhu’. At some point of time that gets into your mind and I told myself before the final ‘No, come on. I need to just give my 100% no matter what and win this,” she said.
The 24-year-old shuttler became the first Indian ever to win the gold medal at the World Championships. She beat Nozomi Okuhara in the final of the event.
Sindhu also said that beating the then reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui in 2012 had been a big turning point in her career. The Rio Olympic silver medallist had beaten Li at the China Masters in September 2012 by a scoreline of 21-19, 9-21, 21-16.
She also spoke about how just before the last point her mind was full of thoughts about what she’d do in reaction to the victory, and how when she actually won her reaction was completely different. Mandhana also shared an experience about how a celebration following a catch went completely awry.
In the show, both Rodrigues and Mandhana asked Sindhu a wide range of questions about how she deals with criticism, why she got an MB, how she deals with menstruation while playing and what future she foresees for Indian women in sports.