Sindhu feels more responsible after silver at Rio Olympics

CHENNAI: Olympic silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu on Tuesday admitted that there is more responsibility on her shoulders post the Rio Games as everyone now wants her to achieve more laurels for the country.

Sindhu, who was here to receive Rs 30 lakhs from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as prize money for winning silver in Rio Olympics, said she is focused on keeping things simple despite the responsibility.

“Definitely there is more responsibility and everybody’s eyes are on me to achieve more. That is there but I said to myself I should not take too much pressure. My aim is to keep playing well. After the Olympics, I have won a Superseries and I have done well,” the lanky Hyderabadi shuttler said on th sidelines of a function here.

Outlining her future aims, Sindhu said: “For now, it is step by step. Now there is Premier Badminton League and there is Syed Modi tournament and some of the Superseries events. I am aiming to do well in the All England and World Championships.”

Sindhu, who will be turning out for Chennai Smashers in the PBL starting January 1, hopes for a better outing from her team in the second edition of th franchise-based tournament.

“This time we will do better. Last time also we did well, we have a very good team this time. We hope to do our best,” she said.

The second PBL will be played in a new scoring pattern of 11 points system instead of 21 and Sindhu backed the change.

“The 11-point system is different. In the 21-point format, if we concede lead there is time to recover. But now, we have to be alert from the very start and be very quick on our feet because we won’t have much time to think about,” she said.