"PV Sindhu Is An Underdog In Paris Olympics": Ex Badminton Star

Former India shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on Thursday dubbed two-time medallist PV Sindhu an "underdog" at the Paris Olympics but said her name still carries a lot of weight and opponents would be wary of her big-match credentials. Eyeing an unprecedented third straight Olympic medal, Sindhu has not been at her best since returning from a knee injury in February. "It's her third Olympics, she won two medals in the last two Olympics and several world championship medals. So I think she feels she has an edge already even though her ranking doesn't say it or her recent form doesn't say it," Kashyap, an Olympics expert at JioCinema & Sports18, told reporters during an interaction.

"In major events, I think the opponents also are a little wary of her even though she's not in form. I think she's going as a dark horse and underdog considering the last two years of women's singles." Since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Sindhu won the Singapore Open Super 500 title and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022, but a left ankle injury she suffered in Birmingham took six months to heal.

When she returned to action, she struggled to find her rhythm and endured as many as seven first-round exits. Sindhu did reach the finals of the 2023 Spain Masters but, after a few months, she suffered a knee injury in October last year.

She came back in February this year but satisfactory results were tough to come by, with the highlight being a runner-up finish at Malaysia Masters and a couple of quarterfinals.

"There are clear four athletes in the women's singles who are out-and-out favourites to make it to the medal rounds but I'm sure they are wary and a little tense about facing Sindhu because she's a big-match player and her game style is also very suited to