Appearing on the 8th episode of India Today Inspiration, PV Sindhu talked about her next mission, which is Tokyo 2020 and also opened up on her rivalry with compatriot Saina Nehwal.
Rio Olympics silver-medallist PV Sindhu will be the next guest on the 8th episode of India Today Inspiration. At a young age of 24, PV Sindhu has served as an inspiration for a million Indians. The Hyderabad shuttler created history when she became the first Indian to clinch gold at the World Championships last year.
With her historic gold at the Worlds, Sindhu not only made her country proud but also shed her ‘choker’ tag and silenced her critics who slammed her for not being able to convert her silver medals.
In a candid chat with India Today Consulting Editor, Sports, Boria Majumdar, PV Sindhu talked about her next mission, which is Tokyo 2020 and her aim at changing the color of her Olympic medal.
“Sindhu is a silver-medallist, everybody will say that. It has been already four years now. Something needs to be new. The Olympics is not easy. Everybody wants a medal. At the end of the day I have to give an answer with my racket,” Sindhu said.
She also opened up on her fierce rivalry with compatriot Saina Nehwal. PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal are the two poster girls of Indian badminton and are both the protégé of former All England Champion and now chief national coach of India Pullela Gopichand.
Both Saina and Sindhu trained in Gopichand Academy until the former left her coach in 2014 to join Prakash Padukone’s facility in Bengaluru. However, the London Olympic Bronze medallist reunited with Gopichand in 2017.
Talking about Saina’s coming back to the Acadamy, Sindhu said that it did not affect her and her coach.
“I am okay. She is just another human being. There is a lot of rivalry between us. Maybe he (Gopichand) might have felt tough in the beginning but later, I think, he also took it in a very sporting way.”
“Both of us have a different style of game. Two Indian girls who are doing really well for the country.”
In the upcoming book ‘Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games’, co-written by sports historian Boria Majumdar and senior journalist Nalin Mehta, Gopichand, revealed that Saina’s decision to leave his Acadamey remains to be a mystery to him.
The 8th episode which will be aired on Saturday (January 18) at 6 pm IST.
