The badminton player says rivals know her game, so she has to keep evolving
P.V. Sindhu, looking back at her 2019 BWF World Championships singles title win, pointed out that she benefited from the expertise of new South Korean coach Kim Ji Hyun and national coach P. Gopi Chand, at Basel. The player’s father and ex-volleyball international, P.V. Ramana, dwelt on the road ahead for his daughter. The two were in the city for a felicitation function.
Replying to a query about the effect on her approach to matchplay, the former said: “It definitely had a lot (of impact). She (Kim Ji Hyun) had few changes in her mind that really helped me. We worked on that, of course under the guidance of Gopi sir. I have really improved on lot of skills. There is a lot more to improve in the coming months.”
Sindhu also talked about the need to retain the surprise factor in her game.
“Every time you need to come up with some new things because the other players know your game. It is very important to keep changing all the time,” she said, underlining the help from coaches in this direction. “every coach has a different mindset and gives their inputs. It is an advantage for me.”
Area to improve
Korean coach Kim joined the national camp in April at Hyderabad’s Gopi Chand Academy. Father Ramana observed: “Sindhu is a hard smasher but the lift is where we wanted her to improve. A little bit of parallel game and the dribble, that is most important. If she gets that confidence and remains injury-free, she has a good chance in the coming tournaments as well.”
Elaborating on his daughter’s training routines, he said: “Almost four hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, the coach makes her play on the court. This is apart from the fitness, which takes around two hours. You have net dribbles, smashes. Every Wednesday and Saturday she plays matches with the boys.”
Change in perception
Ramana hoped that the title at Basel would change the perception of Sindhu’s difficulty in winning final matches at major tournaments. “She will get the confidence after winning the World title, but losing in the final was the only one area people constantly spoke about. Tell me how many players manage to reach the finals? That needs to be analysed also.”
Talking on the sidelines Sindhu’s felicitation by the Sahara India Parivar, the father added: “Sindhu said like me, other people (players) are also reaching the final and losing, so it doesn’t matter and I need to give my best.”
The manner in which Sindhu dominated rivals en route to the title at Basel seem to have made people forget about the stumbles in past finals. A nation celebrated with the victor and applause follows her wherever she goes.
Nithin Rosh 
Nisham Ismail