- By Namrata Vijay
- Fri, 02 Aug 2024 06:18 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Paris Olympics 2024: India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu shared a heartwarming note on her official Instagram account, where she talked about her loss of the Round of 16 clash at the ongoing mega-event. She also tried to put the speculation about her future to rest and revealed that she would continue to play the sport after the much-needed break.
This is the first time in her career that she is coming back from the Olympics without winning a medal. Sindhu, who had won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics and bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, lost to China's He Bing Jiao in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
"Paris 2024: A Beautiful Journey but a Difficult Loss. This loss is one of the hardest of my career. It will take time to accept, but as life moves forward, I know I will come to terms with it," she had written on her official X account.
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"The journey to Paris 2024 was a battle, marked by two years of injuries and long periods away from the game. Despite these challenges, standing here and representing my wonderful country at a third Olympics makes me feel truly blessed," she said.
"I'm incredibly fortunate to compete at this level and, even more importantly, to inspire a generation. Your messages have been a tremendous source of comfort during this time. My team and I gave everything we had for Paris 2024, leaving it all on the court with no regrets. Regarding my future, I want to be clear: I will continue, albeit after a small break. My body, and more importantly, my mind need it. However, I plan to carefully evaluate the journey ahead, finding more joy in playing the sport I love so very much", she further said.
PV Sindhu was in sublime form during the group stages but He Bing Jiao defeated the two-time Olympic medalist in straight games. The Indian shuttler wasn't at her absolute best before the Paris Olympics. She couldn't reach the summit clash of any BWF tournament in the last year but then she broke that streak in Malaysia Open this year.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medalist had suffered a knee injury in the latter part of that year. She began playing again in February last year but was quite inconsistent. She was struggling due to injuries just before the Paris Olympics and thus planned her tournaments in that way.
She hasn't ruled out the possibility of coming back for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 but by then she would be 33 and that's when the shuttlers usually think about retirement.
