When PV Sindhu proudly represented the country with her Olympic silver, she was already thinking about the next immense change in the way people looked at her wins. She decided to never be a runner-up again and so she won the title of World Champion in the year 2019 and has now globally made India proud. Today she celebrates one year of being world Champion. Sindhu took to her Instagram to post her celebratory pictures. “Being a world champion is such an amazing 🥰feeling . Can’t believe it’s already been 1 year ” She wrote.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUg2gOnMx9/?igshid=1fjau7apkrc0m

In our August cover interview PV Sindhu narrates what it takes to be a world champion. Here are a few extracts from the interview.

From a runner-up to a World Champion

In the year 2018, PV Sindhu went through to seven finals only to become a runner-up. In 2019, she reached a finals in the Indonesian Open during the World Tours, hitting the Semi Finals twice, once in the India Open and once in the Singapore Open. Her calendar year points were 30 – 17 wins to losses and she had to push herself harder in order to attain the World Champion title. She knew she was so much more than that; all she needed was the right moment. By December 2018, Sindhu won the World Tours final. 2019 was also a good beginning for her as she took home two silvers and two bronze medals.

By August 2019, the tables turned for Sindhu. Not too flustered about her losses or wins over the recent past, she was determined to win the title. PV Sindhu became India’s youngest and first woman to win the World Champions title. Sindhu’s strategy as power player worked as an enormous strength. She beat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara by a clean 21-7 in just under 38 minutes. “During the initial months of 2018, I did lose a lot of matches but things picked up after December and my silvers and bronzes boosted my confidence to perform better at the World Champions 2019. Even though I lost a lot of matches, I remained confident because I realised mistakes teach you more than they strike you down,” says Sindhu.

Talking about her nail-biting finals with Okuhara, she says, “The World Championships 2017 was a very long match. I thought the situation would be similar in 2019 and was well-prepared in advance but to my surprise, I was able to finish off the match quite quickly. Also, our power play was equal. If she won a match I would win the next and the competition was neck and neck. But, I was quite happy with my performance at the 2019’s World

Even with the lockdown in effect, Sindhu has found enriching ways to keep her life as dynamic as ever. From exciting fitness classes to some amazing social media campaigns, Sindhu is bringing good things back to her nation virtually. To read more about her jouney in life and sports click here.