Wrestler Sushil Kumar: 'PV Sindhu made entire nation proud'

New Delhi: Wrestler Sushil Kumar on Monday lauded shuttler PV Sindhu for winning the gold medal at the BWF World Championships.

Sindhu had defeated Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in the finals of the tournament on Sunday to become the first Indian shuttler to win gold at the event.

"I would like to congratulate PV Sindhu. She has made the entire nation proud, she has become the first Indian to BWF World Championships. I talked to her last night, she was very happy. She is serving the nation by taking giant strides in the sport of badminton. I would also like to congratulate Sindhu's coach Gopi sir," Kumar told ANI.

As time continues to tick away before the start of 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the wrestler said it orders well for the players when they start to peak around the global event.

However, he opined that the Olympics is a whole different beast as players have to go through the qualifying stage as well.

"When the Olympics are near and players start to perform to the best of their ability, the hopes of everyone rises. When people like Sindhu win in such a big tournament, the paths for other sports also open up and people start getting inspired to take strides in the sports world," Kumar said.

"Olympics is just another beast. In World Championships, everyone gets a chance, but in Olympics you qualify first and then take part in the global event," he added.

Earlier, the 24-year-old had won four medals at the World Championships as she had bagged bronze in 2013 and 2014

In 2017 and 2018 she was able to clinch the silver medal.

Sindhu also won a silver at the Rio Olympics 2016. She also managed to reach the finals of the Indonesia Open where she had to face a defeat at the hands of Akane Yamaguchi.