Nehwal is going in right direction, says compatriot Sindhu

Few weeks after slumping to defeat against Saina Nehwal and settling for a silver medal at the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games, Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu on Saturday heaped praise on her fellow compatriot saying that she has been doing pretty well and going in the right direction.

"She is doing really well. She has got a bronze in Badminton Asia Championship as well. I congratulate her and I think she is going in a right way," Sindhu said.

On the last day of the Games, Nehwal defeated her compatriot PV Sindhu by straight games 21-18, 23-21 in a high-octane clash to grab the gold medal in the all-Indian finals to clinch gold in the badminton competition.

As a result, Sindhu had to settle for a silver medal in the women's singles event of the prestigious quadrennial event.

Reflecting on the same, Sindhu said that though she was disappointed with the result, she would learn from her mistake and come back even stronger.

"It was definitely a good match. Yes, a disappointment is always there. But I think, I have done better compared to the last Commonwealth Games. I hope that it would be much better in the next Commonwealth Games for sure. I playing against Saina in the finals, yes there were high expectations. Overall, it was a match where both of us played very aggressively. At the end of the day, there is only one who can bag gold and silver. I was bit sad. But I think I have to come back much stronger and achieve a lot more," she said.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Sindhu, however, suffered a sprain in her right ankle while practicing at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad under the watchful eyes of India chief coach Pullela Gopichand.

Talking about the same, Sindhu insisted that having an injury and performing at the CWG Games was far better than backing out from the event.

"Yes, it was just before Commonwealth Games. I couldn't play in the team event. But I was fine by the time of the individual events. It was good that I could actually play and managed to give my best. I believe that having an injury and playing a CWG Games is better than having an injury and not playing CWG. I gave my best. Overall, it's been a good journey," she said.

Meanwhile, former All-England champion and celebrated badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said that for him, the women's singles event of the CWG was over when his two shuttlers made it to the finals.

"For me, the Commonwealth Games Singles final (Badminton) ended a day before the actual game, with both (PV Sindhu & Saina Nehwal) of them reaching the finals. The target for me was to see that both the players reach the finals & they played a wonderful match," he said.

On a related note, the 2018 Commonwealth Games have been India's third most successful CWG of all time.

India won a total of 66 medals, which included 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.

Earlier, India won 101 medals in the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 and 69 medals in the 2002 Melbourne Games.

Meanwhile, hosts Australia, and England occupied the top two spots in the medal tally this year with 198 and 136 medals respectively.