Ace shuttler PV Sindhu attributed the success in her badminton career to having understanding parents who were sportspersons in their own right.

Participating in an interaction with students and teachers during a promotional event organised at her alma mater Auxilium High School in Hyderabad, Sindhu said, “My parents support was always there and they motivated me. My parents played a very important role and I am lucky to have parents like them because they were sportspersons.”

“Everybody will face challenges in their lives. If you want to achieve something in your life you have to believe in yourself even though there are ups and downs. You have to go through it and hard work is the key for success. For me I have come so far and I feel the journey is just starting for me even though I faced so many challenges,” Sindhu added.

The Olympic silver medallist said her mother has been especially been an inspiration.

“She has always been there saying that ‘do your best’ and ‘give your best’ in whatever you do, be brave and stay strong and all women should do that and believe in ourselves,” Sindhu said.

Not for the first time, the Hyderabad girl said her dream is to become world No 1 and she is trying to reach the numero uno spot. Sindhu, who had achieved a career-best ranking of world No 2 few months ago, said when she started playing at the age of eight her first dream was to represent India.

“When I started playing at the age of eight my dream was to play for India and that was the first dream. When I started playing for India that is when I thought someday I have to be (on) top of the world. I am trying to be world No 1... Now my dream is to become world No 1 and definitely it’s in progress. I would want to see myself there,” she said.

Asked on the challenges she faced to attain success, Sindhu said the key is to learn from mistakes.

“There was a certain time where I thought what’s going on wrong because at sometimes you might not give your best. Sometimes you might just play brilliantly but when you tend to lose, you think that what’s happening or what’s going on wrong. I think learning from your mistakes and coming back much more stronger is important thing that is what I feel and that’s how I learnt and came up in my life,” Sindhu said.

“You have to always be grounded, that is most important thing. Even though you win a lot more or be at the top position you always have to be grounded. You have to give respect and also discipline is very much important and those are the values I have learned from this school.”

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) sanitary napkin brand ‘Stayfree’ on Wednesday announced its campaign ‘Dreams of Progress’ with Sindhu, as their brand ambassador.

“Periods are just normal. Girls should not hold back thinking that periods is an issue. If you want to have your dream you should not stop that because of periods,” she said.

(With PTI inputs)