India’s Olympic silver medal-winning shuttler PV Sindhu posted a cryptic message on Twitter on Monday, sending social media into a frenzy.
The 25-year-old athlete took to Twitter to share three images, the first of which read, “Denmark Open was the final straw I RETIRE.” The other two images elaborated on her initial statement.
As per the statement posted by Sindhu, she’s not retiring from the sport, but rather from the “current sense of unrest” that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented. “I retire from this negativity, the constant fear, uncertainty. I choose to retire from a complete lack of control over the unknown,” she said before adding, “Most importantly, I choose to retire from substandard hygiene standards and our lackadaisical attitude towards the virus.”
Calling the pandemic an ‘eye-opener’, Sindhu claimed that she had not been in the ‘right frame of mind for some time’.
The athlete added that while Denmark Open did not happen, she won’t stop training and would train twice as hard for Asia Open.
Sindhu had pulled out of the Denmark Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held in Odense from 13 to 18 October. The reigning world champion had also pulled out of the Thomas and Uber Cup tournaments, but later decided to participate at the request of Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma. The tournament, however, got deferred to next year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
