PV Sindhu's New Year wish: Number one rank in 2018

PV Sindhu (Reuters)

New Delhi: Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu is eyeing the world No. 1 position next season but said she will not lose sleep over rankings as consistent performances will automatically earn her the numero uno spot.

Sindhu had achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 2 for about two months in the latter half of the season this year.

"I want to see myself as world No. 1 in the coming season. I am at (number) three now and it depends on tournaments. If you play well, you will automatically get the ranking. So I am not thinking much about the rankings. I just have to play well and I know I will automatically be there," said Sindhu, who guided Chennai Smashers to a 4-3 win over Mumbai Rockets in PBL on Wednesday night.

The 22-year-old clinched titles at the Syed Modi GPG, India Open and Korea Open, besides finishing second at World championship, Hong Kong Open and Dubai Super Series Finals this season.

Sindhu feels the duration of matches in women's singles has increased after her epic World Championship final against Nozomi Okuhara.

"There are more long matches going on in women's singles. World Championship was the longest match from my side and after that I could see the matches in women's singles prolonging like one and one-and-a-half hours even though the scores are here and there. I think each game is going up to 40 minutes," Sindhu said.

"In the current circuit, there are the Chinese, the Japanese, Okuhara, Tai Tzu Ying, so I don't think there are short matches anymore."

Asked if she ever feels pressure when the crowd cheers for her, Sindhu said: "It actually feels very good to play in India. It motivates me when the crowd cheers for me. Recently, I played at Dubai and I was very happy with the huge support I got there.

"Expectations will always be there but we have to play our game and give our best. I don't feel any pressure," she added.

According to the new BWF schedule, India Open Super Series will be held by the end of January next year.

Asked if the rejig of tournaments affects the preparation, Sindhu said: "Every year some of the tournaments are shifting here and there. More tournaments are being added and we can't complain. It doesn't make any difference if the date and time of the tournaments shift here and there."

Coming back after recovering from a shoulder injury, Sameer Verma, who had clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold earlier in the season, said PBL is a good platform to judge his fitness and game.

"After injury, there is a fear somewhere, so I was also not going all out but PBL is good match practice as there are lots of top players. I will look to win the next matches. I am looking at it as a super series so that I can win continuously. It will help me next season," he said.

Out of the circuit since the Japan Open in September, Sameer said he will look to remain fit for a long period next season.

"I have realised how important it is to be fit for long term. I was tiring out my body even when I was not getting results. So I will have to look for long-term fitness now," he said.