Pullela Gopichand, the head badminton coach for the national team, is of the opinion that PV Sindhu’s lack of consistency after an injury should not be cause for “concern.”
Pullela Gopichand, the head badminton coach for the national team, is of the opinion that PV Sindhu’s lack of consistency after an injury should not be cause for “concern.”
Sindhu was eliminated in the first round of the Singapore Open on Tuesday, falling to world number one Akane Yamaguchi. She claims to be only 26 or 27 years old, which is exceptionally young.
“It is a good age, so there is no reason to be concerned,” Gopichand told PTI in a virtual conversation.
In August of last year, Sindhu, who won silver and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, fell out of the top 10 in the BWF women’s singles rankings due to an injury to her ankle. Because of that injury, she was down and out for a very long time.
She had her best season when she reached the Malaysia Masters final and the Madrid Spain Masters semi-finals, respectively.
She hit a depressed spot when she lost to Cananda’s Michell Li in the primary round of the Thailand Open.
However, Gopichand, a former All-Britain champion who coached Sindhu from the time she was 10 until she won an Olympic medal, was unquestionably confident that she would return more grounded.
Gopichand portrayed it as a blended season for Sindhu, saying: The season has started, and Olympic capability has started. Up to this point, the results have been blended.
There is a lot of pressure on the players to perform for us. We just need to show our support for them and hope that they’re playing in big tournaments.
The 30-year-old HS Prannoy’s victory at the Malaysia Masters last month was the Indian badminton season’s high point. It was the 30-year-old’s first victory in the men’s singles since the 2017 US Open.
“The Sudirman Cup was kind of a bad experience for us because we didn’t do well there,” Gopichand, who is 49 years old, said, “I do believe that the next few weeks will be very crucial, and we have big tournaments coming up.”
Lakshya Sen did well enough in Thailand to get to the semifinals.
Individual mentors are as of now preparing the country’s best shuttlers. Sindhu is getting ready with Vidhi Chuadhary, and Kidambi Srikkanth is working hard to get Wiempie Mahardi of Indonesia in for the Paris Olympics in a year.
As per Gopichand, “players have begun to feel that they need individual mentors as a general rule, the afflictions of playing one after the other.”
“Once one has won, everyone starts to realise that they really do need one. Things of this nature have been occurring.Everyone wants and needs that individualised attention throughout the Olympic year.
I believe it is a recent trend that many athletes are adopting in various sports. That’s okay with me.
“I found the sport to be very energetic, entertaining, and interactive when I first saw it.
He said, “We at the Academy have a running track and thought padel would be a perfect fit for it in the space between the track and the space.” He was talking about the Academy’s running track.
The reigning badminton champion is of the opinion that the sport has the potential to become more popular in India.
Because it is a sport in which anyone can try their hand, “the sport has a very low entry barrier.” Everyone is welcome to participate in the sport,” he added.