Hyderabad, November 2: India's star shuttler PV Sindhu on Monday (November 2) sent shockwaves across social media with her cryptic tweet in which she wrote 'I Retire'. The 25-year-old Hyderabadi badminton player in her Twitter post wrote 'Denmark Open was the final straw and she has decided to retire'.
Sindhu - the BWF 2019 World Champion and 2016 Rio Olympics silver-medallist - in a lengthy post on her social media handle has stunned millions of fans who were eyeing another Olympic medal from her at Tokyo Olympics next year.
The Olympic silver-medallist is currently in London to work on her nutrition and recovery needs at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.
The ace Indian shuttle wrote in her post: "I have been thinking about coming clean with my feelings for a while now. I admit I have been struggling to deal with it. It just feels so wrong, you know. That's why I', writing today to tell you that I'm done. It's understandable if you're shocked or confused but by the time you finish reading this you would have learnt about my point of view, and hopefully, will support it too."
"This pandemic has been an eye-opener for me. I could train hard to fight the toughest of opponents, tooth and nail, right till the final shot of the game. I have done it before, I can do it again. But how do I defeat this invisible virus that has the entire world in a fix? It has been months at home and we still question ourselves every time we step out. Internalizing all this and reading about so many heart-breaking stories online has got me to question a lot about myself and this world we live in. Not being able to represent India in the Denmark Open was the last straw," she added.
— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) November 2, 2020
Soon after her post, Twitter was flooded with reactions as fans were baffled with her cryptic post.
This was legit my first reaction after reading the words 'I retire'
— Smriti Sinha (@smritisinha99) November 2, 2020
Don't scare us like this ;_; pic.twitter.com/cxx6wGfDRI
So you aren’t retiring from badminton then
— Eddy Gecko 🏸 (@EddyGecko) November 2, 2020
Retire but will train for the Asia open. Sounds like AB and the IPL 😂
— Chill Winston (@Steve64182365) November 2, 2020
Phew! That gave me a "mini heart attack" in the first half! Got me there! But I guess many people won't get the message you're trying to imply! They'll think you actually retired! Nice effort though 👍🏻
— Rhaegar (@thePatriot_IND) November 2, 2020
My reaction while reading this.
— Durgansh Dixit (@DurganshDixit) November 2, 2020
More power to you champion @Pvsindhu1. pic.twitter.com/hK7YlAsK1z
Later, TV journalist Uma Sudhir took to her Twitter handle to end the speculations saying the shuttle has only spoken about the current pandemic situation and hasn't announced her retirement from the game.
Thank god, I read articles entirely till the end.!😭🙏
— Bhakti (@Bhakti_Varak) November 2, 2020
So, PV Sindhu pulled a MSD. pic.twitter.com/MwROObWDuk
The 25-year-old's post drew a response from sports minister Kiren Rijiju, who said he was stunned for a moment. "You actually gave a mini shock @Pvsindhu1 but I had unflinching faith in your power of determination. I'm sure you have the strength and stamina to bring many more laurels for India," he tweeted.
The star shuttler, who last competed at the All England Championships in March, is targetting a return to action when the world tour comes to Asia in January.