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With the new badminton season about to start in a few days, it is a good time to make a few reasonable and realistic predictions that have the potential to come true in 2020. With next year being an Olympic year, there is a lot at stake for every shuttler in 2020.
India's biggest hope would once again be PV Sindhu who has a penchant for saving her best for the big events.
Here is a look at four possible things Sindhu could achieve in the upcoming season:
#1 Win the PBL title again
There is no better way to kickstart the new season than by winning the Premier Badminton League title yet again. As the leading member of Hyderabad Hunters, PV Sindhu would like to take them to their second title.
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Sindhu is no stranger to PBL success. She has previously tasted glory when she was with the Chennai Smashers in the second season of the league. With former World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying and a host of other top stars being in the upcoming edition of the league, this would be the perfect platform for the Hyderabad shuttler to test herself against the world's best and gear up for the new season. Besides, this time, Sindhu would be coming to the league after playing at the Malaysia Masters and the Indonesia Masters due to change in the BWF calendar. So Sindhu would certainly be ready for the PBL challenge.
#2 Get the India Open title back
Winning a title at home in front of one's adoring fans is something every sportstar craves for. Sindhu experienced this in 2017 when she won the India Open in New Delhi. Sindhu has vivid memories of beating the Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the final while her fans vociferously rooted for her.
However, since then, Sindhu has missed out on finishing on the top podium twice. Against Beiwen Zhang, she suffered a heartbreaker in the final in 2018 and went down in a thriller despite holding a match point. China's He Bingjiao dashed her hopes in 2019 in the semifinals. This time Sindhu would be upbeat to forget all those setbacks and land a second title at this Super 500 event.
#3 Win the Indonesia Open for the first time
It is no secret anymore that PV Sindhu peaks for the biggest events in her sport. With the Tokyo Olympics being scheduled in the month of July, one can definitely expect the Indian shuttle queen to find her best form in the couple of events leading up to the mega quadrennial games.
One of the biggest tournaments right before the Olympics is the Indonesia Open. It was at this Super 1000 tournament that Sindhu started her resurgence this year which ultimately set her up for the World Championship gold.
With the Jakarta event being in June, Sindhu would be eager to face the high level of competition there and gear up for Tokyo next month. This year, Sindhu was a revelation at the Indonesia Open.
With wins over reigning All England Open champion Chen Yufei and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, Sindhu looked to be back to her very best. Unfortunately, she could not cross the final hurdle as Japan's Akane Yamaguchi proved too strong. But that sizzling run to the final, with tons of aggression on display, was what gave her all the confidence she needed for Basel. And this time Sindhu would look to go one better and take the title in Indonesia.
#4 Add the Olympic gold to her stellar resume
This is the tournament that every shuttler would be waiting for next year. In fact, winning the gold for one's country is something every athlete hopes and dreams of throughout their career.
The Olympics thus present a severe test of one's stamina, resilience and nerves. Sindhu is all too familiar with it having bagged the silver in an enthralling final at Rio against Carolina Marin.
It won't be an overstatement to claim that four years later she would be hungry for the gold that she missed last time. A lot has changed since then though. Sindhu did go on to taste defeat in a host of BWF finals but the two titles she won are two of the biggest in her sport - the BWF World Championships and the BWF World Tour Finals. Both the events have the creme de la creme of the badminton world playing and the fact that Sindhu could beat all the competition in both says volumes of her courage and self-belief.
While she knows by now how to win the biggest titles in badminton, the intensity of competition would also most definitely increase at the Olympics, especially with it being hosted by Japan. In the recent few years, Japan has become a powerhouse of badminton with Akane Yamaguchi, Nozomi Okuhara and Kento Momota dominating the scene. With the home crowd backing them, it certainly would not be an easy task for any of their opponents to beat them.
Sindhu would thus have to be ready to deal with it as she sets her sights on grabbing the Olympic gold for the very first time.
Related links: Tokyo Olympics 2020 medal tally
