New Delhi, Aug 29: India's star shuttler PV Sindhu is dejected to have lost yet another historic gold medal for the country.
The Rio Olympic silver-medallist went down fighting against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the dying moments of the match at the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow.
It was a fitting of final as the match was dubbed by many as the best women's singles final in recent times for both Sindhu and Okuhara fought tooth and nail in the gripping summit clash that lasted for nearly 110 minutes.
The 22-year-old Hyderabadi shuttler said that she's happy with her performance in the tournament and the silver-medal but also described that there is always a disappointment of missing out on gold.
"I am upset. In the third game, it was anybody's game at 20-all. Everybody aims for gold and I was there very close but that last moment changed everything. I'm happy with silver but that feeling of losing gold is always there," said Sindhu referring to a crucial unforced error at 20-20 in the deciding game.
The gritty Indian shuttler praised her opponent in the final and termed Okuhara a tough opponent. Interestingly, Sindhu defeated the Japanese in last year's Rio Olympics semi-finals clash to set up a summit clash with Carolina Marin.
"She (Okuhara) is not an easy player. Every time we have played it is not easy, it is tough, tough rallies. I never took her easy. We never left any shuttle. I was prepared for a long match but I guess it was not my day," the 22-year old added.
Talking about the final, which was the longest match of the tournament, lasting one hour and 49 minutes, Sindhu said, "It was mentally and physically very tough".
One such rally had 73 shots played between the two players.
"Each rally was long and we both were fired up and we both were fighting hard and it was so close, we were going like 14-14 18-18 and after 20-20 it is anybody's game. It was a big match, a good match but unfortunately, I couldn't win."
Sindhu felt the world championship has been very satisfying for the Indians.
"We Indians are very proud that we won two medals with Saina (Nehwal) also doing well. I am proud that I could win a silver for the country. It has given me a lot of confidence and I would come back to win more titles in future."
The Indian, who now has won three World Championship medals, said there was no need to tinker with the format and scoring pattern of the sport.
"I think 21 points is good, there will be long rallies and it won't be possible to keep it within 30-40 minutes because it's a World Championship and everybody is a world class player," she said.