PV Sindhu a gold medal prospect, expecting three gold medals from badminton at CWG 2022: Trupti Murgunde

Murgunde
–
who
bagged
a
bronze
medal
in
2006
CWG
in
Melbourne
in
the
mixed
team
event
–
will
be
part
of
the
commentary
panel
of
the
quadrennial
event
for
the
official
broadcasters
Sony
Sports
Network.
The
Pune-based
shuttler
interacted
with
media
persons
ahead
of
the
showpiece
event
and
shared
her
views
about
the
CWG-bound
Indian
badminton
players
and
also
made
her
prediction
for
the
medal
tally.
Murgunde
also
claimed
that
two-time
Olympic
medal
winner
PV
Sindhu
looks
like
a
gold
medal
contender
this
time
around.

Commonwealth
Games
2022,
India
badminton
Preview
—
Strength,
Weakness,
Injury,
Opponents,
Medal
Prediction

Here
are
the
excerpts:

MK:
What
are
PV
Sindhu’s
chances
in
the
competition
as
she
won
a
silver
in
the
previous
edition
as
she
lost
the
gold
medal
to
Saina?

Trupti
Murgunde:
Very
bright
chances
for
Sindhu
(of
winning
a
gold
medal)
because
of
the
way
she’s
playing.
The
competitors
who
she’s
likely
to
face
she
enjoys
an
upper
hand
over
them
so
definitely
the
two-time
Olympic
medallist
has
a
good
chance
of
clinching
the
yellow
metal.

MK:
Lakshya
Sen,
Gayathri
Gopichand,
and
Treesa
Jolly
are
some
of
the
promising
young
talents.
What
are
your
thoughts
on
them?

Trupti
Murgunde:
Lakshya
–
post-Tokyo
Olympics
–
has
been
doing
very
well.
His
current
ranking
is
10
at
the
moment
and
he’s
likely
to
be
the
second
seed
in
the
CWG.
He
has
a
bright
future
and
we
are
quite
hopeful
that
he
qualifies
for
the
Paris
Olympics
2024.
We
are
also
looking
at
him
for
the
2028
Los
Angeles
Olympics
because
he’s
pretty
young
and
he’s
already
made
a
mark
in
the
international
circuit.

Commonwealth
Games
2022,
Badminton
Mixed
Team:
India
Squad,
Schedule,
Points
Table
&
Live
Streaming
Info

Both
Gayatri
and
Treesa
Jolly
are
very
young
and
they’ve
had
some
good
performances
throughout
the
year.
They
still
need
to
play
a
lot
and
it
will
be
good
exposure
for
them
and
if
they
pull
this
off
then
there’s
nothing
like
it.
As
I
said,
they
need
that
extra
exposure
and
need
to
be
more
consistent.
Until
now
they’ve
done
reasonably
well
and
they
are
our
future.

MK:
How
many
medals
can
we
expect
from
this
contingent?
Who
all
are
the
gold
medal
prospects?

Trupti
Murgunde:
I
am
looking
at,
say
about,
three
golds.
In
the
mixed
team
event,
we
may
have
a
little
bit
of
resistance
but
we
have
a
good
chance
of
winning
the
gold
in
the
team
events.
Then
the
second
would
be
PV
Sindhu,
considering
the
opponents
she’s
going
to
face.

PV
Sindhu
hopeful
of
clinching
a
medal
at
Commonwealth
Games
2022
after
winning
Singapore
Open

Also,
I
am
looking
at
men’s
singles
because
Li
Jijao
of
Malaysia
is
not
participating
in
the
tournament
and
Loh
Yew
Kean
from
Singapore
–
who
is
the
reigning
men’s
singles
world
champion
–
is
the
only
tough
opponent.
But
both
our
men’s
singles
players
Kidambi
Srikanth
and
Lakshya
Sen
have
been
in
good
touch
so
I
am
hoping
for
gold
from
them
as
well.

Srikanth
has
had
a
few
niggles
in
the
past
but
he’s
been
doing
well
recently.
I
would
be
hoping
for
an
all-Indian
final
between
Srikanth
and
Lakshya
and
that
would
be
the
best
thing
for
Indian
badminton
and
Indian
sports
as
well.

MK:
Players
from
which
country
or
countries
are
going
to
pose
a
challenge
to
the
Indian
shuttlers
at
the
CWG?

Trupti
Murgunde:
It
will
be
Malaysia
and
Singapore
teams
then
we
have
some
players
from
England
in
some
events,
who
might
give
some
challenge
to
our
players
in
the
paired
events.
So,
I
think
these
three
nations
are
going
to
challenge
the
Indian
shuttlers
in
Birmingham.

MK:
HS
Prannoy
has
been
a
force
to
reckon
with
this
year.
What
according
to
you
has
changed
in
his
game?

Trupti
Murgunde:
I
have
always
felt
Prannoy
was
a
talented
player
because
of
his
understanding
of
the
game.
Some
of
his
good
performances
came
earlier
as
well
but
they
were
in
patches.
I
think
for
some
players
the
COVID-19
break
did
wonders
and
it
was
sort
of
a
blessing
in
disguise
for
him
because
he
was
struggling
with
his
injuries
and
health
issues
and
that
break,
sort
of
gave
him
the
time
to
rehabilitate
from
his
injuries
and
introspection
of
his
game
helped
him
get
mentally
stronger
and
that
is
why
he’s
made
a
comeback.
He’s
making
comeback
in
the
matches
from
tense
situations
and
looking
more
consistent.
So
these
are
certainly
good
signs
for
him.