“I train for six days in a week for eight to ten hours of practice per day.”

Life has changed both on and off the court after the Rio Olympics medal. I have a lot of confidence on the court now and feel anything is possible. I also feel that I have improved my game. Off the court, I do get recognised more now.

Women’s badminton has become so competitive.

I love making friends and make others happy. But I also love to be happy all the time. All that aggression that you see remains on the court only.

Every tournament I have won has been memorable.

Hard work is the key for success.

I have learnt many things, but there’s more to learn. Every day is a new start.

I want to beat everyone I’m playing against.

It is very important to be confident and strong even if you lose, because you know there are tournaments coming up next, and you have to be prepared for it.

What hurts most is whenever I am leading, and then I lose the match, it is disappointing, and there are so many such matches.

It is hard to lose for everybody.

I love dressing up, and I’m aware that people do say that it can take your attention away from the game. But I disagree with this notion!

I was lucky to get good coaches and infrastructure that I needed. To become a champion, it is not just a few months’ practice: it takes years to make a champion.

It takes years of practice to become a World No. 1 or 2.

Every tournament is important for me.

I was at the Gopichand Academy since I was 10.

My long-term goal is to become the world number one player.

My children, the secret of religion lies not in theories but in practice.

Just trust your instincts. There’s an old saying in golf, you’ve studied the swing many times, and you practice and practice, but when you stand over the ball, you just have to trust your swing. And you trust it. And if you don’t trust it, you’ll ruin it; your brain will take over.

Just as those who practice the same profession recognize each other instinctively, so do those who practice the same vice.

Without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue. You have to have courage – courage of different kinds: first, intellectual courage, to sort out different values and make up your mind about which is the one which is right for you to follow.

By practice men can bring even the heart under control, until it will just beat at will, slowly, or quickly, or almost stop. Nearly every part of the body can be brought under control.

Theory is knowledge that doesn’t work. Practice is when everything works and you don’t know why.

Eka-Nishtha or devotion to one ideal is absolutely necessary for the beginner in the practice of religious devotion.

The attempt to regulate, control, and prescribe all manner of conduct and social relations is very old. It was always the practice of primitive people.