With more responsibility, I need to work harder, says PV Sindhu

PV SindhuHaving created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic silver medal PV Sindhu feels the limelight would now be trained on her and she needs to work harder with the added responsibility of living up to her newfound statureFrom now on responsibilities expectations are high and everyones eyes are on me This is just the beginning and I need to work harder said Sindhu after she was felicitated here along with national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand by nonprofit organisation Olympic Gold Quest which has supported her from the age of 15I feel very happy with my achievements I was able to win back to back world championship medals When I won that first bronze medal in the world championship I started to get recognised And now responsibilities are high Olympics is something which comes once in four years There is a lot more to go said the 21yearold from HyderabadSindhu lost to Spains reigning world champion and top seed Carolina Marin in three games in a pulsating final to settle for second place in womens singles at last months Rio Games which was the young shuttlers first appearance in the quadrennial multisports spectacleI am very happy OGQ gave me great support at all times from the age of 15 I won my Maldives international tournament which started the journey The infrastructure in the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad has been phenomenal What we have is more than enough said Sindhu whose parents former volleyball internationals P V Ramana and Vijaya were also honoured at the functionIt was a good game overall It was her Carolinas day and she played well From the first round it was very tough There was no easy match I took it one match at a time Gopi Sir told me to give my best play my game He was always supporting and motivating me I really worked hard and we worked out before every match Sindhu explainedSindhu also said that the jump smash that she uncorked at the Olympics was a new weapon that she had started to use while training before the Games The jump smash was very helpful in this tournament Gopi sir had always told me to use it but I never tried it earlier Initially it was a bit tough to master as all my strokes were going into the net Later everything went well and everyone started asking me about it Its one of the weapons I have I can say said SindhuNormally a calm person on court Sindhu surprised everyone at the Games by expressing her emotions openly during the feverishly fought final in which she came back from 1619 to win the opening game before losing the match Aggression should always be on your face and you need to be alert for every point If you take it easy for one point you may lose many It was an Olympic final The whole week was wonderful I never thought I will reach the final she saidAgainst Carolina I was well prepared I had met her in Denmark Open I made 23 mistakes and she took the lead The shuttles were also a bit fast Had I won those points things could have been different she added The 21 victory over Michelle Li of Canada in the preliminary group stage was also a result of careful planning said SindhuI and Gopi sir prepared well strategywise I was disappointed by my loss to her in the CWG But I did not think about that match It was a fresh match and I thought I had really worked hard and played my heart out said SindhuIts not really easy for a tall person as far as agility is concerned For the last two and a half months I was very focused in working out on the agility front and it really improved said SindhuAlthough Chinese women did not win any medal at the Rio Games Sindhu did not think their dominance was ending Whoever does well and gives the best on that day wins she saidLooking ahead Sindhu said her first competition would be the USD 700000 Denmark Open Super Series Premier followed by the USD 300000 Paris Open a week later There are many tournaments coming up the USD 1 million Dubai World Super Series finals from Dec 1418 and before that the Denmark Open and Paris French Open she said