‘Preparations not hampered’

India’s first ever woman silver medalist at the Olympics, P.V. Sindhu is slowly coming to terms with her popularity following her stupendous run at the Rio Games. The 21-year-old has been on a whirlwind tour of felicitations across the country but it hasn’t hampered her preparations for the upcoming events.

“It didn’t sink in for a long of time, now it has a bit. It was nothing like distraction, it is nice of people who have been affectionate and shown so much of love. I have been taking out time where ever I went for felicitations, to train and ensure my preparations aren’t hampered,” Sindhu said on the sidelines of a launch event of Ojasvita Malt, along with chief national badminton coach Pulella Gopichand, here on Friday.

Sindhu is now set to return to the international circuit at the Denmark Open starting on Tuesday.

“I have started practice already and (am) preparing for the Denmark Open and French Open,” she added.

Sindhu is aware of the expectations but isn’t taking too much pressure on herself. “Winning silver at Rio has given me a lot of confidence and with the same confidence I hope I would go further. Responsibilities will always be high from now on. Everybody’s eyes are going to be on me. It’s just that I shouldn’t take much of pressure and play my game. I just want to go to the court and give my 100 per cent,” she said.