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India's Sindhu eyes medal on return to Paris for badminton worlds / Photo: © AFP
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India's Sindhu eyes medal on return to Paris for badminton worlds
Former world champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu told AFP she has a medal in her sights at the badminton world championships as the Indian returns to Paris one year on from the Olympic Games.
Last year in the French capital, Sindhu was unable to add to her Olympic haul of silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at the following Games in Tokyo.
"It was sad that I couldn't get the medal, but then I mean you learn a lot, you win some and you lose some right," Sindhu said after getting her world championships off to a strong start on Tuesday.
"It's wonderful to play the Olympics itself and you know it (was) my third time, so it was competitively very different compared to the last two Olympics as well," the 30-year-old added of her round of 16 exit at Paris 2024.
Now back at the same venue 12 months on, Sindhu admitted she did not want to leave empty-handed again.
"Definitely hoping for a medal this time, I mean it's just one match at a time for me, so really looking forward to it (the tournament)," she said.
"I've played in Paris a lot of times, so I think this time hopefully I'll take back home that medal and (am) hoping for the best."
Sindhu has already collected two silvers, two bronzes and one gold medal at the world championships over the course of her glittering career.
And she showed her pedigree against Bulgarian teenager Kaloyana Nalbantova with a devastating performance in the second game to wrap up a 23-21, 21-6 win in their first-round meeting at the Adidas Arena.
"I think the second game was quite easy because I just went with the flow, but I think the first game was very important where it was tricky for me to understand, but once I understood the court I think I was quite there right playing my game," the 2019 world champion said.
"I think the first game in the tournament, first match, it definitely took me some time to get used to it (the playing conditions).
"So I think for me it took some time to actually get adjusted, but I think after 11 points I was actually on track where I was ready for every point and I knew where it was going."
Despite being handed a tough draw at the world championships, with second seed Wang Zhiyi of China a potential third round opponent, should the 15th seed be able to stay in her "flow" few players will fancy meeting her in Paris.
S. Alves--JDB
