Star India shuttler PV Sindhu is expected to be back on the court soon, after a long injury layoff, at the Badminton Asia Team Championships starting on Feb 13. But her aim will be to pocket her third Olympic medal at Paris 2024, perhaps a gold, that has eluded her till now.
Given her form and her tryst with injuries in the last 18 months, and poor form, that would be a different challenge altogether, and Sindhu understands that very well. “I would say, this Olympics is going to be a different experience because the 2016 and 2020 Olympics were very different. Paris will be more challenging but at the same time, I have much more experience and I will have to be much smarter this time,” Sindhu told PTI in an interaction.
The 28-year-old minced no words in saying that every player is tough, and she needs to have Plan B ready, in case her Plan A fails. “In women’s circuit, players in the top 10-15 are tough. It is important to be focused and have a strategy so that you can switch to plan B if plan A doesn’t work. It is important to stay calm as sometimes you can go blank. It is important to have a strong mindset,” she said.
Chopping & Changing of Coaching Staff
Ever since her Tokyo medal, she has gone out to try a few coaches, but nothing seems to be working for her. She parted ways with Pak Tae Sang, then Vidhi Choudhary, and then eventually, Muhammad Hafiz Hashim as well. Finally, now she has Prakash Padukone as her mentor, and Agus Santoso as her coach.
“I have a new trainer, physio, nutritionist, coach, and mentor, so everything is very new, and I am happy how they have been supporting me and are helping me from where I am and where I should be in the next couple of months,” said Sindhu.
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“I am very fortunate to work with Prakash sir because he is such a legend and him being a mentor helps. His training methods and ideas are helping me. As for Agus, I knew him for a long time when he was training our men’s players.
“We will have to see how I do, it has been just a month. So things will be good moving forward. I am back to my full fitness and I am looking forward to Asia team championships.”
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