New Delhi: Star Indian shuttler Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, a.k.a., PV Sindhu, is going through a rough patch since her return after injury, which she suffered during the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Sindhu suffered a left foot stress fracture during the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, which kept her out of action for 6 months, before making her return to the Malaysia Open, in January, earlier this year.
However, ever since her return she has not been able to regain her form and has won zero titles ever since.
Sindhu, now keeping the upcoming 2024 Olympics in mind, made a huge decision to part ways with her current coach Hafiz Hasim, and has unveiled the Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone as her coach.
For those wondering and constantly asking me 😅, the cat is finally out of the bag!!
Prakash sir is assuming the role of the mentor in my setup. I started training with him at the end of August, and it’s been uphill ever since. He’s more than a mentor; he’s my guide, my guru,… pic.twitter.com/KxYlo4dyBd
— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) November 18, 2023
Injury scare
PV Sindhu enjoyed a memorable year in 2022, where she won the Asian Championships bronze, the Swiss Open, the Singapore Open and also the Gold Medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games before her injury ruled her out for six months.
However, upon her return, Sindhu has not been able to quite replicate her performance. She has played in 15 tournaments so far and has not been able to win any of those.
PV SINDHU CRASHES OUT OF 2023
ASIAN GAMES AFTER LOSING WOMEN’S SINGLES OF MATCH2-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST WILL RETURN HOME WITHOUT A SINGLE MEDAL IN THIS EDITION OF ASIAN GAMES💔#AsianGames2023 #PVSINDHU #IndiaAtAsianGames pic.twitter.com/PCBp11Pjxx
— Mohd Sufiyan (@Mohd_Sufi123) October 5, 2023
Her form has peaked so low that she suffered 8 first-round defeats in those 15 tournaments.
Sindhu is now currently ranked 17 in the BWF rankings, which is the lowest in the last seven years.
Nehwal way
Sindhu not being able to get any positive results, has finally decided to replicate Saina Nehwal’s move which later took 9 years ago, and become the first-ever Indian shuttler to reach the number 1 ranked shuttler in BWF rankings.
Although Nehwal was criticised for her decision to part ways with her long-time associate P Gopichand at that time since the results were positive, it was soon considered as a masterstroke.
PV Sindhu’s coach Park Tae Sang has confirmed (through an Instagram post) he would not work with her anymore, adding that she wanted a change after a not-so-good start to the 2023 season. pic.twitter.com/ju97hjm2Ag
— Badminton Updates (@badmintonupdate) February 24, 2023
Sindhu with no option left has also decided to follow Nehwal’s way and has decided to train under Prakash Padukone’s umbrella, in a desperate attempt to resurrect her career.
High praises for Padukone
Before Sindhu, just like Nehwal, several players turned towards Prakash Padukone in the hope of strengthening their badminton skills.
One such person is former Indian shuttler, Anup Sridhar, who himself trained under Prakash Padukone says, “Since he has played at the highest level, he is a very good judge of what a player is going through and is very insightful too. He can usually take a quick look at a player and figure out what the player needs to work on, for me personally, especially during some very tough times, I found Prakash sir very easy to talk to.”
Deepika Padukone, prakash padukone and Ranveer Singh at the cricket world cup final #INDvsAUSfinal pic.twitter.com/kNthbFfN7G
— Deepika Files (@FilesDeepika) November 19, 2023
Another Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy product and former Indian shuttler Sagar Chopra, says, “Prakash sir doesn’t want a flashy game. He is old school and sticks to the basics. He wants players to keep the good length, give good drops, hit those regular half-smashes, emphasise good net play and also explain the details of mastering dribbles. He keeps telling his students to try as many net chords as possible. Even now when he visits the academy and sees players dribbling at the net, he just stands and likes to watch good dribbling.”
Interestingly, Lakshya Sen, who was also struggling since his return from injury earlier this year, turned towards Prakash Padukone and only a couple of weeks later ended up winning the Canada Open.
However, how will this move work for Sindhu? Only time can tell.
