Ahead of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, India shuttler PV Sindhu has revealed she draws inspiration from Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo. The 36-year-old footballer recently won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 courtesy of his five goals and one assist and shows no signs of slowing down. "I don't have words, the way he (Ronaldo) plays, the skill, the technique he has is tremendous," Sindhu told Olympics.com. Apart from Ronaldo, she also looks up to two tennis legends in Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Both of them are arguably the greatest to grace the sport and Sindhu wants to emulate their perseverance and longevity.
Serena Williams, 39, has won 23 Grand Slam titles and famously won the 2017 Australian Open while she was pregnant. Roger Federer, also 39, is still playing at the top level and recently reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
"Serena believes she can do it, being a woman, being a mother. She's done exceptionally well, she's a strong woman. Whereas, Federer, is another legend. Maintaining that level till now, at his age, is not easy. He's been there at the top," said Sindhu.
Sindhu will be starting her Olympic campaign against Israel's Polikarpova Ksenia on July 25 at court 2 of the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza BDM. She has already reached Tokyo and is gearing up for the training sessions in the capital city.
"My training sessions started at 7. By the time I am done with my cooling and stretching it's about 9:30," she revealed.
In the afternoon, her training resumed around 2-2:30, and after sweating out for a couple of hours she would hit the gym at the Suchitra Academy.
"It almost takes two hours to complete my gym. Every day is different, sometimes we do endurance, running, some agility exercises, explosive, weight sessions. By the time I finish everything, I come back home it's like 7-7:30," said Sindhu.
"I understand a lot of people are saying we are lacking match time. But I don't feel that because we made such a scenario, such a situation, almost like match play. The Gachibowli Stadium is almost like the Japan stadium, it is big, the air-conditioning, the shuttle control, and everything," she added.