With gold in hand, a golden chance in 2020 Tokyo

The respect and love latest world champion PV Sindhu and Spain's Olympic champion Carolina Marin have for each other is mutual and admirable.

Marin, who is on her recovery path after a knee injury that has kept her out of the circuit since February this year, tweeted after Sindhu's win: "Proud of you girl! You're gold!". The Indian world No. 5 replied, "Thank you my friend".
It was to Marin that Sindhu lost two of the major finals in her career – 2016 Olympics and 2018 World Championships.

And, now with the "monkey off her back", as former Olympian and multi-time national champion Aparna Popat told DNA on Monday, Sindhu is ready to dominate world badminton in the coming years with the next major targets being the 2020 All England title and the 2020 Tokyo Games gold.

Sindhu will be burdened by the pressure of expectations from all corners, now that she has won her first – and India's only – world title and the Olympic Games being less than 11 months away.

Aparna said that pressure is bound to be there for Sindhu "whether she won the Worlds title or not".

"This win could work in her favour," Aparna said. "Now the monkey is off her back. People are not going to be doubting her. They will look at her as a clear frontrunner for the Olympics gold medal.

"This win will probably give her the confidence to ease off and actually play her game. It is not about the fact that she has won the title but more about how she has played. The last year has been a little uncertain in terms of her game pattern. When that settles down once she is comfortable with the way she is playing, it should actually ease her off the expectations and pressure," she added.

'Sindhu in very good position for Olympics'

Aparna, who represented the country in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, said that Sindhu has given herself enough cushion with the 21-7 21-7 demolition of former world champion Nozomi Okuhara in Sunday's final.
Okuhara and reigning world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi, who is certain to lose ranking points following her early exit in the Worlds, are two of the favourites at the Olympics in their home country.

Aparna said that it could work to Sindhu's advantage. "Home pressure could be a disadvantage for the Japanese. On the other side, knowing the home conditions could be an advantage. All in all, Sindhu is in a very good position right now. Just look at the complete dominance against Okuhara. She took just 37 minutes to beat her. Two years ago, in the Worlds final, Okuhara took an hour and 50 minutes. That's an hour and 13 minutes off. That is the form that Sindhu is in right now.

"That said, let's not get ahead of us. There's still many months away. This is the time people are starting to work towards Olympics. A lot could happen in the last few months leading up to the Olympics. But just looking at it, it is all looking very good," Aparna added.

What this win could do to Sindhu is put her in a privileged position to choose her tournaments from now on and be in the right space when Olympics approaches.

The 41-year-old Aparna said: "Now that she has got this big win with so many months to go for Olympics, the biggest advantage is that she has the choice with what she wants to do. If she wants to skip a tournament, she has that flexibility. She and her team can plan what she wants to do. If she doesn't want to play, that's fine, and nobody is going to question her. The peace of mind she has going in, that is the biggest advantage."

'She should dominate world badminton' 

Former international doubles shuttler and now coach, Uday Pawar, agreed with Aparna and said that Sindhu has shown great maturity over the last few years.

"Expectations have always been there with Sindhu. She has shown great maturity over the past few years. With superior fitness, her mental strength has also improved. When you are physically very strong, you feel mentally also strong and more confident. That has been a major change in her game," Pawar said.

"Sindhu has shown great consistency in the Worlds. With age on her side, being physically strong has added a new dimension to her game. Over the next 3-4 years, we should see her dominating world badminton. She has to maintain her fitness and peak at the right time for the Olympics. She has to make sure she gives a lot of importance to main events and focus her tournament play around these tournaments."

Pawar added: "Sindhu should not have any issue qualifying for the Olympics. They take the best 10 events in rankings. She has to be very good in planning for tournaments and that she should not be playing if not fully fit. And, with self confidence from the Worlds win, and if she continues to be stronger, Sindhu has a good chance for gold in the 2020 Olympics," he added.

Pawar said that having a woman coach in Korean Kim Ji Hyun could work in Sindhu's favour.

"When the Korean coach took over (early this year), the results in the previous nine months or so were not so good. Now that she has had about six months to understand the system and for the players to understand her, Sindhu looks to be comfortable with her. The coach is also animated and involved in the game. Sindhu could relate better to a lady coach, one who can understand her psyche better. All these are good for her future and definitely looks promising," Pawar said.

Aparna, on the other hand, played it safe when asked if the Korean has made a difference to Sindhu winning Worlds gold. "Don't know if it is because of the Korean or it is amplified because it is the Korean. Yes, there has been a change in her game, and I am not the only one who has seen it," Aparna said.

Yes, badminton fans across the world saw it on Sunday. And, they will look forward to a similar happy ending on August 2, 2020 when the women's singles final is slated in Tokyo.