‘Working hard on my mental strength’ PV Sindhu chimes after reaching the knockout stages at Tokyo 2020

The Rio 2016 silver medallist has qualified for the knockout stages by winning her two group games.

3 minBy Samrat Chakraborty
PV Sindhu competes against Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong during a Women’s Singles Group J match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
(2021 Getty Images)

PV Sindhu has been in promising form at Tokyo 2020 as he won her second consecutive match by beating Hong Kong’s Chueng Ngan Yi 21-9 21-16 in a group J game in women’s singles badminton event. The 26-year-old continued her fantastic record against Ngan, whom she had earlier defeated in five previous meetings.

She earlier defeated Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova 21-7 21-10 on Sunday in her opening game at Tokyo 2020.

The Indian badminton star will next be against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in a round of 16 tie. The world number seven has a superior head-to-head record against the Dane, having won four of the five previous games. The only time Blichfeldt was victorious against Sindhu was earlier this year at the Thailand Open. However, it must be noted that Sindhu was perhaps not in the best possible shape and form due to the break induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The last time these two met was in March 2021 at Swiss Open where Sindhu defeated her in straight games.

“It's not going to be an easy game. I need to recover well and come back stronger. I've played couple of times, every point is going to be important. She’s an aggressive player so I need to be aggressive as well,” Sindhu was quoted saying to Badminton World Federation website.

Sindhu also spoke on the importance of being mentally strong which is vital when participating in major competitions such as the Olympics.

“Yes, mental aspect plays a very important role and I think have learnt that so far. We have seen a lot of people going to depression,” she mentioned.

“I have working very hard on my mental strength as well as physical strength, not only on court but also off it. It is very important to stay calm and keep yourself busy. There will be a lot of pressure and responsibilities. It comes to a time where you just have to let go everything and just be focused on yourself. And that is why I meditate at times and that really helps me to keep calm and going. That’s has been a positive thing for me,” she further explained.

The sixth seed reiterated that during the pandemic, she focussed on the technical side of her game with her coach Park Tae-Sang providing valuable inputs.

“I have used the pandemic in a very positive way. Since we did not have any tournament I worked a lot on my technique and skill because my coach was always there to help me with my strokes,” she said.