"Comeback was harder than I imagined," says PV Sindhu after runner-up finish at Madrid Spain Masters

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu, on Sunday, finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Madrid Spain Masters Badminton tournament. This was her first podium finish since her title win at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August last year.

After having fought through an injury to win the CWG gold, Sindhu spent a lot of sidelines to recuperate. She missed a lot of major tournaments which followed, including the 2022 BWF World Badminton Championship and the 2022 BWF World Tour Finals.

Though the double Olympic medallist finally made her way back into competitions earlier this year, she struggled for to find her rhythm.

PV Sindhu entered the 2023 Madrid Spain Masters on the back of a three first round exits and only one second round appearance in the four BWF tournaments she had competed in the year so far.

Thanks to her lackluster run, the former World Champion also fell out of the top-10 women's singles world ranking for the first time in over six years.

All in all, the Madrid Spain Masters was a very important event for her to get back on track and she delivered.

Her final loss notwithstanding, PV Sindhu was quite emotional after getting back to her best.

"First trophy after my injury lay-off, the come back was challenging and a lot harder than I imagined," Sindhu tweeted.

"It took some time for the self belief to come back and hopefully it has come. To everyone who truly believed I would come back, just know that I am grateful for your support," she added.

Sindhu, who has been competing without a coach, also thanked her support staff for her performance in Madrid.

"Now it is back to training and doubling down on the training front to get ready for a grueling 12-month schedule. Always grateful to my support staff. Your work will never go unnoticed," she wrote.