PV Sindhu became a household name in India after her brilliant silver medal-winning performance at the Rio Olympics, but her compatriot Saina Nehwal disappointed, failing to make it out of the group stage of the competition.
With contrasting results in Rio, Sindhu has become extremely popular, and some have started to call her India's number one shuttler. However, Saina, who has dropped to world number nine, is still ahead of Sindhu in the rankings.
"For me, it's only the start. I will definitely work harder and get many more laurels. Comparison will always be there between us. When it's off court, we are normal friends. On court, when we are competitors, we just play to win. It's not that you play with some grudge. You just play thinking 'I should win'. Even she would play thinking the same way," Times of India quoted Sindhu in an interview.
India had a lot of hopes on Saina before the Indian contingent headed to Rio, and Sindhu felt that the London 2012 bronze medal winner's loss was shocking. Saina lost to Ukraine's Marija Ulitina in straight games.
The former world one could not give her best as she was battling a knee injury, which played a huge role in her exit.
"We thought she would play well and come on the top of the league. But she lost in the league. Winning and losing is part of life. There are ups and down. When she lost, we all felt very bad. We had thought she would win and go further. It's an individual sport. I didn't meet her actually because the timings were really different. Her loss was shocking," Sindhu said.
Ever since Sindhu won silver, Pullela Gopichand has come into larger focus with the former player playing an important role in nurturing the shuttlers of the country.
Sindhu was all praise for India's coach and the Gopichand academy in Hyderabad, which has top-class facilities.
"Beyond the Gopichand Academy, I don't really know what's going on but being part of the Gopichand Academy, I can tell you the infrastructure and everything has been perfect and we have been getting all the facilities. Whatever we have wanted, has been there," said Sindhu.
