Sindhu looks to Sridhar to put her back on track

Bengaluru: Niggles and injuries have led to a dip in form and fitness of PV Sindhu over the past few years. But rarely have such roadblocks affected the badminton star's motivation to train or compete at the highest level.

Never the one to get bogged down by challenges, the 29-year-old Sindhu has begun her search, once again, for the route back to her glory days. And for this, the two-time Olympic medallist has roped in Olympian and former men's national champion Anup Sridhar. 

“I was called for a quick chat over a month ago and we spoke at length,” the 41-year-old Sridhar told DH. 

“It was mostly to do with her motivation and the goals going forward. It is something to discuss, right? However uncomfortable it might seem you cannot avoid such conversations. And after working with her for the last three weeks, I’m thoroughly convinced that she is extremely motivated to do well to get back to where she was before,” said the Bengalurean. 

The former world champion had a forgettable outing at the Paris Games where she lost in the pre-quarterfinals to China’s He Bingjiao. The result, though not unexpected given her struggles with injury prior to the Games, put question marks on Sindhu's future. Now, with the revamp of her coaching staff with Sridhar at the helm and South Korea's Lee Hyun II as consulting coach, the Hyderabadi has made a clear intention of continuing to play. Anup will be the fourth coach Sindhu has been working with since she parted ways with South Korean coach Park Tae Sang after winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021. 

“Interim makes it sound like this is only for these couple of months. I suppose we do this now to see how it works for the future. If it works well, we carry on,” offers Sridhar about not wanting to label his coaching stint with Sindhu. 

The senior, who has watched the growth of the junior, wants to bring in all his experience as a top player for years and coach for nine years to help her be the competitor Sindhu wants to be again. 

“There are quite a few similarities between us - the height, and the style of play which is attacking and aggressive. Since I have been in such situations myself, it will be easier for me to tell her what not to think or what not to do,” he says.

In the three weeks of training at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad, Sridhar says that there are already five technical aspects they are working on. For now, the coach-student duo is set to fly to Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland (October 8-13) before competing at the Denmark Open in Odense (Oct 15-20).

“The most important thing will be load management. We need to keep her healthy, fit and on court. We cannot afford to lose time for sickness or injuries.

“It will be a little over a month of working together, we will fly to play events. So there is no overarching pressure to create miracles because that doesn't happen in sport. It is, however, possible to do well because she is a fantastic professional. After having won everything there possibly is in badminton, she still has the hunger to keep improving. It’s crazy!”

A player who extended his career way beyond the dreaded 30s during a time when it was considered the end of the road, the former Thomas Cup captain observes that ‘things have progressed vastly’ in terms of a players’ longevity. And Sridhar is certain that Sindhu has many more playing years left in her. 

“As long as you have a good fitness and conditioning programme, physio backup and other support staff, one can manage the body for careers to last long these days. Look at Viktor (Axelsen, age 30). He just won his second Olympic gold and is showing no signs of slowing down. 

“Obviously, saying it is one thing and doing it is the actual job. Sindhu lost a few months last year, so my endeavour is to see that that does not happen again.”