Sindhu will have to pick tournaments she wants to go all out in, says Saina

Mumbai, Sep 27 (PTI) PV Sindhu knows how to win big tournaments, but as she enters her 30s, the two-time Olympic medallist must be selective about which competitions she chooses to go "all out" in, feels London Games bronze winner Saina Nehwal.

This year has been far from ideal for 30-year-old Sindhu, who has endured multiple first and second round exits, but she showed signs of revival by reaching the quarterfinals of the World Championships last month.

"It's not that you cannot do well after a certain age. (It's) definitely possible, but you will have to look forward to the tournaments (in which) you want to do well," Nehwal told PTI in an exclusive interaction during the launch of CXO Pickleball League organised by Gravate Sports here.

"You cannot target all the tournaments because it is tough. At that age, when you are consistently playing so many tournaments to maintain your ranking, you will have to obviously manage up to a certain round." "But if you are looking at winning, suppose a World Championship or Asian Championship, you will have to go all out in those tournaments." Nehwal, who knows the grind better than most, highlighted the reality of aging in elite sport.

"I think (after the age of) 28-29, the body's recovery is slow. You will obviously train very hard but it is not easy to push every day for five days." Nehwal said the coming tournaments would also give an idea about Sindhu's form.

"I just hope that (in) the next few tournaments which she has left, let us see how the performances happens because she has done well after the World Championships." "You never know how things will change because she is an experienced player. She knows how to win tournaments.

"It's just that, sometimes, after a certain age it gets difficult with the body but the mind is always ready to win the tournaments. I am sure she can do well,” Nehwal said.

The 34-year-old also stressed the need for more depth in Indian women’s badminton with the World Championships set to return to India next year.

"I can say that in the women's category we need more youngsters to do well. (In) men's we have Lakshya (Sen), Priyanshu (Rajawat), (HS) Prannoy, (and Kidambi) Srikanth who are there. But in the women's category we only have Sindhu at the moment," she said.

"The youngsters still are picking up, they are doing well. But I don't see them consistent enough still.

"The Junior World Championships is happening next month, so let us see what the performances will be from them." “At the same time, the senior World Championships will be an interesting one because it's happening (in India) after 2009, the last one was in Hyderabad.

"Sindhu will be looking forward to doing well again but I would want to see how many girls get entry because there is an entry limit into that," she added.

Nehwal said the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have the capability to win "every tournament possible." "They are such a strong pair. They can win every tournament possible. If you see the No 1 ranking pair or Satvik-Chirag, the game is almost the same.

"The way I see them, they can win any tournament possible." "It just depends on that day, luck, everything matters in the sport. That is the difference between Olympic gold and silver. It's just that little bit of here and there,” she said.

Nehwal, who has not announced her retirement officially, said she has decided to stop playing the sport due to arthritis in her knee.

"Last two years have been tough and I got arthritis in my right knee so I decided to stop playing. It is very tough to play at the highest level when you need to practice for so many hours and your knee is not ready for that,” she said.

“I just felt that it is tough to compete at the highest level, so I decided to stop and now I am happy that I can motivate a lot more youngsters to play many more different sports,” Nehwal added. PTI DDV APA APA