People told me I had final phobia: Sindhu

New Delhi: Ace shuttler P V Sindhu, who made history by becoming the first Indian to win gold medal at the World Championships last year, has revealed that she didn't want people to call her "Silver Sindhu" and she was desperate to clinch the top honours in Basel.

Sindhu, who had already won two silver and two bronze medals at the event, defeated her nemesis Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes on August 26 last year.

In the Rio Olympics, Sindhu went down 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 to Spain's Carolina Marin in the final and had to settle for the silver medal.

"After the 2016 Olympics, I had six to seven silver medals. People started telling me that ‘you have a final phobia'," Sindhu told Indian women's cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues on "Double Trouble".

"At the recent World Championships, I was in the final again. I already had two bronze and two silver...and I was like I have to win this match.

"So, I just wanted to give my 100 per cent. I didn't want people to say ‘Silver Sindhu'. At some point of time that gets into your mind and I told myself before the final ‘No, come on. I need to just give my 100 per cent no matter what and win this," she added.

Sindhu also said that beating the then reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui in 2012 was a big turning point in her career. She had defeated Li 21-19, 9-21, 21-16 at the China Masters in September that year.

The Hyderabad shuttler is currently enjoying a forced break due to coronavirus pandemic which has even led to the postponement of Tokyo Olympic Games by a year.