PV Sindhu sets her sight on 2021 return

Sindhu believes her prolonged absence from the competitive tournaments will not affect her preparations for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.

Hyderabad: BWF World Championships gold medallist PV Sindhu has ruled out any possibility of returning to the professional court this year. The 25-year-old sets her sight on 2021.

Sindhu believes her prolonged absence from the competitive tournaments will not affect her preparations for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The Rio Olympics silver medallist has recently pulled herself off ongoing Denmark Open which marked the beginning of the BWF World Tour season following a seven-month halt due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Sindhu said she will return to the court when the Tour begins in Asia in January next year.

The 2018 BWF World Tour Finals champion resumed training at the Pellela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad in August after a four-month break. She is expected to make a comeback in the Asia Open I (Jan. 12-17) and Asia Open II (Jan. 19-24) and believes her challengers in the top 10 will be well-rested.

2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu.

“I missed playing badminton. But I used to train every day at home so I’m in good shape… When I started playing again it took me one or two weeks to come back but I’m fine, I’m fit. I’m waiting for tournaments to start,” Sindhu, who ranked seventh on BWF women's singles rankings, was quoted as saying by a news agency.

“It’s been seven months (without competitive action)… It’s going to be a different game and challenging as everybody must have improved.

“It’s not easy to say there’s just one or two players because everybody will be challenging at the Olympics. Everybody is going to be in top form. The top 10 in the world are of the same standard so each one is challenging.”

Sindhu, who was last seen at the All England Open in March, kept herself busy during the lockdown by painting and honing her cooking skills.

However, she is still unclear about her schedule before the Tokyo Olympics.

“I’m positive and I’m practising so I hope everything goes on well,” Sindhu added.

“I was a bit sad, but it’s fine. The whole world came to a standstill and it was important to take care of ourselves. Life comes first.”