Lucknow: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu on Sunday said she will "definitely" keep playing for the next few years and will have the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics on her mind. Sindhu expressed relief after ending a prolonged title drought by winning the Syed Modi International badminton tournament and hoped the result would mark the start of another successful phase in her illustrious career.

There is also a plan to play badminton for the next few years.s

The 29-year-old former world champion stressed the need to stay injury-free in the final phase of her career. "This win will definitely boost my confidence. Being 29 is beneficial in many ways because I have a lot of experience. Being smart and experienced is important and I will definitely play for the next few years. My main goal is to stay injury-free which is very important. The Los Angeles Olympics are still far away. I will definitely play, but the important thing is to stay injury-free and enjoy the game. If I stay fit, why not?" Sindhu told reporters.

Sindhu won the Syed Modi International title for the third time.

Sindhu defeated world number 119 Wu Luo Yu of China 21-14, 21-16 in the final to win the women's singles title for the third time at the tournament. Earlier, she had also won the title in 2017 and 2022. She told reporters, 'I am very happy that I won. Now it is time to just rest and start again in January. I hope this will be a comeback and I am looking forward to many more victories. I will play in the upcoming tournaments in Malaysia, India, Indonesia ,a and Thailand. Of cour,se we have to choose the tournaments because I have to be very wise to decide what to play and what not to play. I need to be very wise in this matter.'

The last title was won in the year 2022

Sindhu won her last title at the Singapore Open in July 2022. The world number 18 player said, 'Sometimes victory was very close but still very far. There were good matches before but they could not be converted into victory. I came back and worked hard. It was important for me to get this win. Now I feel relieved. It is the end of the year and it is great to end the year with a win.'

Lakshya Sen lost in the fi.nal

On the other hand, 2021 World Championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen said after defeating Singapore's Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-6, 21-7 in the men's singles final, 'I am really happy with the way I prepared and played the match. I hope to do well in the tournament next year. I now have some time till the new season, which will give me time to train and focus on the upcoming tournament.'

Trisha Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won the women's doubles t.itle

The women's doubles pair of Trisha Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand kickstarted the celebrations for India by winning their maiden Super 300 title with a stunning 21-18, 21-11 win over China's Bao Li Jing and Li Qian. "We wanted to win, we were aggressive and kept moving well. That was the strategy and we executed it well today. We will go with the flow and see what happens in the future. We don't want to plan too much," said Gayatri, who was part of the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pair.

He said, 'This is our first gold and it is a morale booster for both of us. It has given us a lot of confidence and we are now looking forward to the World Tour Finals.'