PV Sindhu says the improved form that carried her to the Japan Open title this year is the product of a sports-science overhaul she began building with her team over the past several months, as she chases her first World Championships medal since winning gold in 2019.
Speaking at the BWF press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, a day ahead of the World Championships opener, Sindhu said it took time to assemble a dedicated support unit around her, comprising strength and conditioning coach Wayne Lombard, physio Heera Mundluru and S&C specialist Shreyasi Sanjay, and to align their work with her personal coach.
“It took some time when we got the whole team together in terms of sports science, physio and the trainer,” Sindhu said. “We sat down. We just noted down what is required and what is needed. We discussed with the coach. And we had to improve on those things.”
She said the team now uses data to manage her training load and reduce injury risk. “You have all these gadgets now to record your strain, how tired you are, or can you push yourself or not,” she said. “So these are some metrics where you make sure and take precautions.”
Sindhu added that the shift is already visible in her performances. “I’m able to actually see the changes in terms of my game and in my movement. So I think I’m happy that it’s going in the right way.”
It has been seven years since her last World Championships medal, a gold in 2019, and Sindhu was direct about the gap. “I won the World Championships, I think in 2019. After that, almost 7 years,” she said. “Hoping, this time, Japan Open, I’ve got a lot of confidence from that. I hope I do well.”
Asked what has stayed constant across her career, Sindhu pointed to her mentality rather than her game. “I think the hunger towards the game hasn’t changed,” she said. “And definitely I know it is in me, and I can still do it.”
The World Championships begin in New Delhi on Monday, marking the first time in 17 years that the event is being hosted on Indian soil.
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