Sindhu in last 16 as Saina loses in Hong Kong Open
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu set sights on reaching world number one after she shook off openingmatch nerves to reach the last 16 at the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday.
Last year’s runner-up and current world number three needed a mid-match pep talk from her coaches before she beat Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 21-15, 13-21, 21-17.
Afterwards Sindhu, who has become one of the world’s highest paid female athletes since winning Olympic silver in 2016, said she had her eye on the number one spot. “It’s not going to be easy because there are some players who are coming up. But definitely one day I will be world number one, that’s what I feel,” said Sindhu, who was briefly ranked second last month.
“The top 10 to 15 players of the world are in the same standard, so it’s just on the day who plays well and gives their best is the number one.” Sindhu, 23, narrowly lost the 2017 Hong Kong final to Taiwan’s world number one Tai Tzu-ying.
The Indian player has had a string of disappointments since, losing five straight finals.
HONG KONG:
Saina Nehwal’s campaign came to an end after she was beaten by Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 10-21, 21-10, 21-19.
‘LITTLE TIME TO RECTIFY MISTAKES’
In Mumbai on Wednesday, chief national coach Pullela Gopichand said while it might not have been a great season for Indian badminton, he was happy with the performances of the Indian shuttlers given there were a number of big events, which were a part of the calendar. “Overall it has been a tough year. We hardly had any time for preparations. We had the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, world championships. Whatever time we had, was not enough to really work end-toend on mistakes,” Gopichand said on the sidelines of the launch ceremony of Mumbai Games. On being asked if scheduling played a role in the dip in performances, he said that it perhaps took a toll on Indians since they had to take part in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games — neither of which were in the 12-event category.