Despite missing out on a Paris Olympics medal, India shuttler PV Sindhu has not given up hope, and it still looking to make improvements in her game. For the same, she has, on trial basis, hired Lakshya Sen’s former coach Anup Sridhar. In fact, she’d be returning to the court after a gap of two months, at the European leg of the badminton calendar.
PV Sindhu Back on Podium
Now. speaking with PTI, Sridhar made it clear that the partnership duration is undecided, a lot of his focus with Sindhu is to get her back on the podium, make her peak in a few tournaments in 2025. and get the consistency going.
“I spoke with Sindhu’s team a few weeks ago, and she has been training under me in Hyderabad since the start of this month. We’ve made significant progress, and in two weeks, we’ll head to tournaments in Europe,” the coach said.
Now, Sindhu would first play in the Arctic Open, followed by the Denmark Open — both in October. “I’m taking it week by week. Since we haven’t committed to anything long-term, it’s hard to plan for 2025. However, there are a couple of tournaments in 2025 that Sindhu should aim to peak at,” he said.
“You can plan for physical peaks, but not for form. I have my eye on a few tournaments next year, but the immediate focus is to enhance her consistency and get her back on the podium — that’s the big goal.” Meanwhile, it is important to note that Sindhu had last won a tournament in 2022 — the Singapore Open, and also the CWG 2022.
No Injury, No Pain
On the other hand, Sridhar clarified that the 29-year-old is without any pain and there’s no injury at all. “We’ve followed our training schedule without missing any sessions. I’m working on helping her unlearn certain things while introducing new elements to her game.
“She faced a tough couple of years with some good results but lacked consistency during that period,” Sridhar said. “If we can get her to a level where she’s consistently advancing past the early rounds, regardless of her draw or opponent, she’ll have a realistic chance of making a strong comeback.” Sridhar added.
“…yet her hunger remains. She works extremely hard and is a great role model for the rest of India’s badminton players.”
