The BWF Tour Finals champion said that support from different sectors, including the government, has played a key role in the success of Indian sportsperson at the international level.
#SportingSuperpower | Sporting Superpower by 2022: PV Sindhu, Gautam Gambhir and Babita Phogat discuss grit, guts and the global game at the Republic Summit. @Pvsindhu1 @GautamGambhir @BabitaPhogat Tune in to watch it LIVE here-https://t.co/LGCyJUEBn5 pic.twitter.com/PucjhQptEq
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The 23-year-old Sindhu was speaking at the Republic Summit, which was also attended by wrestler Babita Kumari Phogat and former India opener Gautam Gambhir.
“We have sponsors nowadays, a lot of people have sponsors. Before if you do well, achieve success and are in the top, then only sponsors used to support you,” said Sindhu, who recently became the first Indian to win the badminton World Tour Finals.
“But now there are a lot of sponsors who are coming and encouraging at the grass-root level. That is very important,” said the Indian shuttler.
#RepublicSummit | Gautam Gambhir, PV Sindhu and Babita Phogat discussed about grit, guts and the global game at the Republic Summit 2018https://t.co/eZDcTfcIzk
— Republic (@republic) December 19, 2018
Sindhu broke her silver jinx in great fashion on last Sunday by defeating her nemesis Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-17 in the women’s singles to become the first Indian to win gold at year-ending World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China.
“If you play well automatically you will do well and then the government support is there. You have the TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) for the talented and top players and also Khelo India.”
“The government is doing a great job by supporting us, so if you do well they will recognise you and they will sponsor you,” Sindhu said.
Asked Sindhu about the pressure she had of finishing second-best before breaking her gold jinx in Guangzhou recently, she said, “I didn’t feel any pressure. But to answer everybody who ever had doubts about me, I would simply say it’s gold this time and no more silver.”
Sindhu also spoke up about her parent’s support to her. ”When I wanted to play a sport, I started badminton for fun. People asked me why don’t you pursue volleyball as your parents did. My parents supported me. They have done a lot of sacrifices for me. Ups and downs are always there, but they always taught me that this is just the start. That’s how they encouraged me.”
(Source Inputs: PTI)
