PV Sindhu pulls out of Thomas and Uber Cup

PV Sindhu has pulled out of the 2020 Thomas and Uber Cup citing `personal reasons. Sindhu’s father PV Ramana said that "Sindhu will not be participating in the 2020 Thomas and Uber Cup due to personal reasons". The 2020 Thomas and Uber Cup is scheduled from October 3 to 11 in Aarhus, Denmark. Originally, Sindhu was slated to return to the court at the Thomas and Uber Cup. The World Champion shuttler returned to training last month with the start of the national camp for eight Olympic-bound athletes at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

On Saturday, during an Instagram live session on the Bank of Baroda’s official account, Sindhu revealed that her father inspired her to take up sports.On being asked about her inspiration she said: "Dad inspired me to play sports when I took up badminton he never questioned my choice."

When asked "which alternate career would you have chosen", Sindhu replied that as a child she wanted to be a doctor, but now she thinks badminton is better.

Turning point was 2012

Earlier, Sindhu has revealed that defeating Olympic champion Li Xuerui in 2012 was the turning point of her career. Sindhu revealed this during a chat with paddler Mudit Dani on his online live show 'In The Sportlight'.

"The turning point for me was when I beat Li Xuerui in 2012. She was the Olympic champion at that point of time and I beat her in the quarter-finals (of the China Masters)," Sindhu said. While Sindhu currently continues to train at home and is having a relaxed time with her family during the COVID-19 crisis, she has also picked up new skills.

"I have been learning a few things as I paint nowadays. I am also cooking and baking. It`s really interesting because earlier it was always badminton but now you are learning different stuff which is creative," said Sindhu. The 25-year-old also spoke of the importance of support for rising stars to excel. Support from the ecosystem like Khelo India is as essential as support from the parents; this being her parting message on the show.

This was the 16th episode of the Instagram live chat series 'In The Sportlight', by the 21-year-old Dani, who has already hosted Abhinav Bindra, Leander Paes, Vijender Singh, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju among others with the next guest being wrestler Bajrang Punia.