CWG 2022: Zen-like PV Sindhu seeks singles gold after mixed team defeat
Win or lose, PV Sindhu is hardly ever fazed these days. She seems to be in a Zen-like situation, whether conducting interviews, her replies in monotone, or before that, quelling the challenge on the courts with just that smidgen of aggression.
Win or lose, PV Sindhu is hardly ever fazed these days. She seems to be in a Zen-like situation, whether conducting interviews, her replies in monotone, or before that, quelling the challenge on the courts with just that smidgen of aggression.
Come to think of it, what’s left for her to achieve? Is there any tournament where Sindhu she hasn’t a medal to her name? Two Olympic medals, two Asian Games medals, four Commonwealth Games medals and five World Championships medals among an abundance of glorious performances.
Still, if you observe her closely there is an innate hunger for more. More top finishes, more eminence. Naturally, she was expecting the CWG mixed team gold late on Tuesday evening. After all, the India were the defending champions in the event. A silver, therefore, seemed to be below the expectation she had.
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“I am happy, but unfortunately we could not make it to gold,” Sindhu said after India lost 1-3 to Malaysia in the mixed team gold medal match. The loss rankled Sindhu because she did her bit by vanquishing Goh Jin Wei in the women’s singles 21-17, 22-20, but the rest couldn’t come up with their ‘A Game’ on the day.
🏸 Shuttler @Pvsindhu1 welcomes the newest member of #TeamIndia's #CommonwealthGames family 👇
The Indian women's cricket team 🏏🙌#B2022 | @BCCIWomen | @thecgf pic.twitter.com/h3GuBmYFId
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 3, 2022
The first three matches of the tie featured India’s renowned men’s doubles pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Sindhu, and World Championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth. The Indian team was expecting to win the gold medal after the first three matches.
“We fielded a very strong team for the final. Just look at the first three matches. Maybe, it just wasn’t our day,” Sindhu said.
Satwik and Chirag failed to find their famed “top gear” and were defeated 18-21, 15-21 by Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik. Sindhu then levelled the match, but despite a strong showing, Srikanth was unable to overcome world No. 42 Ng Tze Yong, losing 19-21, 21-6, 16-21. With Malaysia leading 2-1, it was up to the women’s doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand Pullela to pull India back into the match.
🗣️ "I could hear the cheering out there"@Pvsindhu1 and @srikidambi thank the @BCCIWomen players who watched our 🏸 mixed team clinch 🥈 at the National Exhibition Centre #EkIndiaTeamIndia | #TeamIndia | #B2022 pic.twitter.com/bk4Pso1riE
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 3, 2022
Malaysians Muralitharan Thinaah and Koong Le Pearly Tan, however, proved too strong, winning 21-18, 21-17. “So I awarded a point to my team. The men’s singles and doubles did not go as planned. They gave it their all, but only one could win “Sindhu stated.
Sindhu, like any top athlete, believes in “processes.” It encourages her to concentrate on the individual events. Sindhu, who won silver in the 2018 Gold Coast Olympics after losing to Saina Nehwal in the women’s singles final, now wants to go for gold. CWG silver is an anomaly for a player of Sindhu’s calibre; she deserves gold.
Group selfie done right ✅ 🥈🏸🇮🇳#EkIndiaTeamIndia | #TeamIndia | #B2022 pic.twitter.com/650YyGxncP
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 3, 2022
“Hoping for the best and hoping for the gold but it is important to give my best in every single match,” she said. “It is not going to be easy because it depends on that particular day. Because I know the conditions, how they are, they keep changing, so it is important to be focused.”