The experienced campaigner, PV Sindhu, showcased her class and quality with an incredible run at the Japan Open last month. In an exclusive chat with RevSportz, Vimal Kumar, former India national coach and someone who has closely monitored Sindhu’s progress at the Centre of Badminton Excellence, opened up on Sindhu’s resurgence, her heartbreaking loss to Chen Yufei in China, the new scoring system that will be in place from next year, and her chances at the World Championships in New Delhi.
Excerpts:
Recently, PV Sindhu had an incredible run at the Japan Open. How do you look at her resurgence?
She moved to Bengaluru a few years ago, and we tried a few coaches. Eventually, Prakash (Padukone) was helping her during the Olympic Games. But somehow she wasn’t getting that flow. I kept telling her, ‘she is an attacking player’. Her fitness was never in doubt; compared to others, she is relatively injury-free. In between, she was getting injuries, but she was managing such things well. Somehow, she couldn’t play the right shots at the right time. Now we have zeroed in on Irwansyah in the last year. He has been working hard.
Sometimes it isn’t just the coach. It is also your trainer, physio, gelling with everybody. It is teamwork. I think she has found the balance now. I observe her training sessions regularly. Especially winning a 750 series. I thought it was only after 3-4 years. But she mentioned that it was after 7 years, winning 750 or 1000, that gives you an extra bit of confidence. I thought in Japan she did well. In China, too, she could have won the title. She had four match points, we were discussing all that. She is enjoying her sessions better, she has found that flow in her game. She is playing really well at the net. As long as she can cut down on her unforced errors, she can definitely play well in the next couple of years, the Olympics as well.
She went on to defeat the likes of Akane Yamaguchi, Chen Yufei and Co. in that tournament. In that respect, have you picked up any tweaks in her game, or certain things that she worked on in the recent past?
First of all, she was working on her defence, the bodyline. It has been a perennial problem for her. To get away from that, she basically needed to not give her opponent the opportunity to do that. For that, what she needed to do was dominate the net. She worked quite a lot at the net. Let the opponent lift the shuttle, so that she can go on the attack. Rather than keep flicking the shuttle to the back of the court. To a certain extent, she is feeling a lot more comfortable playing at the net. She has good reach, good variations from the back, good hard hit, good smash. Again, using that judiciously is the key. You need to use it at the right time. She has been working at it, that is making a big difference now.
How do you look at her fitness at this point of time in her career?
At the higher level, they take care of the body, they can play. The tennis players have shown that, whether it is Nadal or Djokovic or Federer, a lot of them played good tennis after 34-35 and won Grand Slams, giving a tough time to the youngsters. Last week, the one who won the Super 1000 event, Chou Tien, was 37 years old (36), he beat everybody. For any racquet sport, the strength and conditioning part is the key. After a certain age, 29 or 30, an S&C (Strength and Conditioning) person makes a big difference. It isn’t the question of playing a long number of hours. It is about getting the right balance and doing the right S&C programmes. That is an area we have been neglecting; most of the top players play too much, try to do too many things, instead of working on strength and conditioning.
Next year, with the new scoring system, when they shorten it, it will be all about pace. I am totally against that scoring system being changed. The beauty of badminton is toughness. You can’t make it easy like pickleball or padel tennis. That is not the way to treat a sport (smiles).
Please explain a little more about the behind-the-scenes fitness schedules…
I think she is in good shape. Now what we have been telling her is to maintain it. The World Championship is coming up. Instead of overdoing your fitness… don’t do anything different. The coach, they all will be sitting together and discussing these things. She has a good team, eventually it is that. Normally what happens is we are technical people, we sometimes don’t listen to the S&C person, or the physio, we think we know everything. That also is a problem. Especially when you’re post 29-30, you need to find the right balance.
How do you look back at Sindhu’s heartbreaking loss to Chen Yufei in the China Open, where she had match points?
I think she played the right game, everything was perfectly working for her. Maybe, at 20-16, she looked for that one easy point and that landed on the baseline. A couple of points she wasn’t exactly prepared to stick in there and apply and put pressure. Of course, she was playing from the tough end, it was tough for her to push the shuttle to the back of the court and clear. So, it was difficult. Still she could have kept the attack a little more. These things happen. She would have been gutted after losing the second game. The third game as well, she was right there, in with a chance. I thought she would make it.
Anyway, Chen Yufei is an experienced player like Sindhu. Personally, if you look at the player, it was a tough loss. She might say it is okay, but it will hurt her. That flow was there, she could have won the 1000 series but that is sport. Sometimes, you don’t get things your way. But, overall, if she remains like this; the S&C people have all worked the right way. She has at least a couple of good years of badminton left in her.
Going into the World Championships, is there any area of concern that Sindhu has to look at?
During crucial times, those unforced errors. You can’t afford to do that. A lot of the Indian players are doing that, whether it is Lakshya, Ayush Shetty, they are all playing at the highest level. These unforced errors, sometimes, are letting them down. It will become even more relevant when the game shortens; you can’t afford to make mistakes. It is about pace and fewer mistakes. Sindhu has to find ways to deal with those things. And a little bit of selection from the back of the court, if she can clip it down, mix it up with a little more variation with the hard smash. By doing that, she will be a very, very strong contender.
Obviously, the World Championships will be played in New Delhi, India. How do you gauge Sindhu’s chances?
She is an experienced girl, she has dealt with such situations in the past. I don’t think it is pressure or anything like that. It isn’t going to be easy, but she can do it a lot better. On big occasions, she plays well, I am hoping for that. She is a big-match player. Barring An Se-young, she stands out slightly. But a lot of other girls, especially Sindhu’s batch girls, have retired like Marin, Tai Tzu-Ying; Ratchanok is still not the same. So the other girls aren’t as formidable as the earlier lot. So, Sindhu has that advantage.
Also Read: Sindhu Banks on New Sports-Science Team to End Seven-Year Wait for World Championships Gold
The post Sindhu has at least a couple of good years of badminton left in her: Vimal Kumar, ahead of the World Championships appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.
