PV Sindhu, the flagbearer of Indian badminton, has said she is keen on topping the women's singles rankings sooner than later. However, the 23-year-old conceded the difficulty of the task in hand.
Currently ranked number three in the highly-competitive women's singles field, Sindhu insists that the gulf in class between the top 10 to 15 shuttlers is minimal.
While Tai Tzu Ying has been winning titles at will in the ongoing season and maintaining the lead at the top of the chart with ease, all others in the top 10 have witnessed constant rise and fall in rankings.
Meanwhile, Sindhu was ranked as high as world number two, a position that she held for a brief period last month as well.
"It's not going to be easy because there are some players who are coming up. But definitely one day I will be world No.1, that's what I feel," Sindhu was quoted as saying by AFP on the sidelines of ongoing Hong Kong Open.
"The top 10 to 15 players of the world are in the same standard, so it's just on the day who plays well and gives their best is the No.1."
Sindhu needed an hour and one minute to overcome unseeded Nitchaon Jindapol in the Round of 32 clash earlier today at Hong Kong Open. The Hyderabad shuttler had reached the final of the tournament last year and she needs a good run in the ongoing tournament if she is to secure her place in the season-ending Tour Finals, scheduled in December.
The 23-year-old concedes that she feels the burden of expectations but points out she is being an inspiration for many back in the country in the sport, which is seeing tremendous growth.
"A lot of them have been taking me for inspiration, and there are also a lot of expectations now after this year especially. So to meet their expectations I need to be there and I need to keep working hard," Sindhu added.
"Definitely I think Indian badminton as a sport is growing up and you see a lot of people are picking up badminton so it's a good sign for Indian badminton I can say because in a couple of years you will definitely see a lot more players coming up."
After having faced defeats in the finals of five tournaments, including the world championships and the Asian Games in 2018, Sindhu will be hoping to end her title drought at Kowloon this week.
Sindhu will take on unseeded Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the second round and faces the prospect of meeting eighth seed He Bingjiao in the quarter-final.
Notably, Sindhu has faced two successive defeats to Bingjiao in the last 30 days as she was ousted by the Chinese in the quarter-final of French Open and China Open as well.
