PV Sindhu was only 14 when India hosted the BWF World Championships in Hyderabad in 2009.Seventeen years later, India is hosting the prestigious event again, and Sindhu has now become one of the flagbearers of Indian badminton over the years. “I was a very small girl. I used to come and watch matches from morning until evening. At that time, I did not understand how serious it was, but now I realise that I got to experience the best back then,” PV Sindhu said on the eve of the World Championships. “Now I am here playing the World Championships in India after 17 years. The journey from then until now has been very memorable, and I am hoping to win a medal on the home ground. A five-time World medallist, including a gold in 2019, is coming to the tournament with a crucial win at the Japan Open. Sindhu, 31, became the oldest woman to win a Super 750 title in Tokyo. “Winning the Japan Open gave me a lot of confidence and a boost going into the World Championships. Having won five medals at the World Championships, it has been an amazing journey. Each medal gave me a different kind of experience,” she added. World Championship journeySindhu’s journey at the World Championships has seen her progress from bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 to silver in 2017 and 2018, before finally winning gold in 2019. The 2017 finals remain some of the toughest moments in her World Championship journey. A year later, Sindhu came close again, but Carolina Marin of Spain halted her march to the gold. “Losing the 2017 World Championships final made me much stronger. I played a very hard-fought match against Okuhara in Glasgow that lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes, but I lost 22-20. Being…
This report has been adapted by the PurePlay Sports Desk from coverage by The Hindu Sportstar, NDTV Sports, The Bridge, Google News — India Sports.