Badminton- 'Can’t say field becomes easy': PV Sindhu on Carolina Marin's withdrawal from Tokyo 2020

Spanish ace Carolina Marin withdrew from the upcoming Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday after suffering tears in her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and both meniscus on her left knee.

With Carolina's withdrawal, social media began analysing PV Sindhu's increased chances to win a gold medal for India in the much-awaited Summer Games.

Current World Champion PV Sindhu lost to Carolina Marin in the 2016 Rio Olympics and had to settle for a silver medal. However, Sindhu said that the competition will still be difficult despite Marin's absence.

“It is unfortunate she had to pull out due to injury, I really hope she has a speedy recovery,” Sindhu, 25, said from Hyderabad on Wednesday. “She has been a great competitor for me and we share a good equation.”

Sindhu said: “I can’t say the field becomes easy because the top 10 participants are all great at their game and I will still need to give it my best and focus on getting results one match at a time.”

In the head-to-head stat, Marin has a 9-5 career record against Sindhu. Recently, Marin defeated Sindhu in the Swiss Open final at Basel in March.

“In women’s singles, the top 10 are of the same standard, be it Tai Tzu Ying, Ratchanok (Intanon), Chen Yu Fei, (Nozomi) Okuhara, Carolina, (Akane) Yamaguchi, An Seyoung or Pornpawee (Chochuwong). I cannot take even one match easy as everybody is going to be at their 100 percent. Plus, everybody has their own set of skills,” world No.7 said.

“Now everybody will not know each other’s game because we haven’t played for two-and-a-half months. So, they’ll come and use their skill, tactics, everything. We’ll have to watch out for everyone and shouldn’t go with one strategy because everybody’s going to improve their game, learn new skills and techniques. We have to be ready and prepared for everything.”