PV Sindhu took rapid strides in the year 2016, winning silver medal at the Rio Olympics and also her first maiden Super Series title in China. Besides this, she also finished runners-up in the Hong Kong Open, and also reached the semifinals of the Dubai World Finals, which was another landmark for her in a brilliant year.
Sindhu, with such performances, has become the darling of India badminton, but Saina Nehwal, who has suffered with injuries in the recent past, is on the downfall. The former world number one played an important role to place India in the global map of women's badminton and Saina is happy with the way Sindhu has performed this year. She believes it is Indian badminton, which has taken an upward climb. Saina also praised male shuttler Sameer Verma.
"I think Indian badminton all over is doing well. I think along with Sindhu, Sameer also reached the finals at Hong Kong Open and all of them are doing extremely well," Press Trust of India quoted Saina as saying.
With players like Sindhu performing consistently, these are great signs for India badminton. India will hope that Saina, who has been troubled by injuries in the recent past, will deliver in 2017. The Indian shuttler also hinted at retirement a few months ago, but will actively participate in 2017, and try to win some major competition, which can give her the much-needed confidence to regain that world number one ranking.
If Saina manages to have a good year in 2017, that could be a huge thing for India women's badminton with both superstars performing consistently in world badminton. Looking at the way Sindhu has performed in 2016, one feels that the shuttler is destined for greater things next year, while Saina will hope to get back to fitness and deliver the goods.
However, male shuttlers like Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap and Sameer Verma have to take their game to the next level and show more consistency to win titles.
