Sindhu seeks improvement on fitness, defence in search of World C'ship gold

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu said on Friday that she has been working on improving her fitness and defence in search of an elusive gold in the showpiece World Championships next week.

Sindhu has been the most consistent performer in the World Championships in the last few years with two silver and as many bronze medals but a gold has still eluded her.

The 24-year-old Indian ace will once again be the biggest hope as she spearheads the country's challenge at the World Championship which begins in Basel, Switzerland on August 19.

She lost to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan and Carolina Marin of Spain respectively in the summit clash of the last two editions of the World Championships in 2017 and 2018.

Asked if she is hoping to make it third time lucky, Sindhu replied: "Well, I have trained hard and I hope I can do well. I have to perform well but there is no pressure."
"At World Championships, it will not be easy from the first round itself. If you see the draw, I am playing a Chinese Taipei player and then Beiwen Wang, she is not an easy players and if I can win, I will be against Tai Tzu Ying in quarters. I have to focus on each match, because you never know."
"Her mindset and thinking is different and she motivates me a lot. Every coach has a different approach and I got used to her quickly. She joined after All England, so it took some time to get used to her way. Now we understand each other well."