P V Sindhu: A worthy successor to Saina
It took a while before P V Sindhu decided to pick up the badminton racquet once and for all. Born to national volleyball players, she used to visit the volleyball courts quite often with her dad. The badminton court happened to be just beside and Sindhu played once in a while and won almost always â it was destined that she finally makes the switch.
Sindhu was a prodigy since her early days in badminton, and her dedication and interest only increased with time. She started playing badminton at the tender age of eight. From winning the U-10 national championship to getting into the national team for the Uber cup at 15 to winning the Macau Open three times in a row this year, Sindhu has gone through a complete make-over â as far as possible fromwhat regular 20-year-old girls go through.
Sindhu was the daughter of two former national volley-ball players. Her father, an Arjuna awardee, was the captain of the Indian volleyball team and part of the team that clinched Gold at the 1989 Asian games. Born to such athletes, she had an inherent genetic advantage. The lanky structure that she has is an acquired trait â you cannot fail to notice the nonchalant grace with which she covers the court to reach impossible drops.
She first played under the guidance of Mehboob Ali at the IRISET badminton courts in Secunderabad. When her parents discovered her latent talent, they shifted her to the Gopichand academy, where she was given one-on-one training by Gopichand. A long journey from Secunderabad to Gachibowli at 3:00 in the morning, for the solo-session from 4:30-6:30 AM, was her training regime at the age of 10.
Her punctuality stood-out and that impressed Gopi the most. âThe fact that she reports on time at the coaching camps daily, travelling a distance of 56 km from her residence, is perhaps a reflection of her willingness to complete her desire to be a good badminton player with the required hard work and commitmentâ said Gopichand to The Hindu.
She showed glimpses of a champion as she won tournaments, right from the beginning. She clinched Gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011, and also won the bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships that year. It was a promising start for Sindhu.
She tasted international success for the first time in 2011as a 15-year old at the Indonesia International where she defeated Fransisca Ratnasari in the final. In 2013, she won her first Grand Prix title at the Malaysian Open after defeating Juan Gu of Singapore in the finals. In March of that year, she broke into the Top-0 for the first time in her career. On Mach 8th, she was ranked ninth in the world.
She then followed it up with the coveted bronze medal at the World Championships held in Guangzhou â two years before Saina managed one. She defeated Wang Shixian of China in the quarter-final in three grueling sets. The maturity in her game was evident, as she came back from a set down to defeat the Chinese. She won her second title of the season late in the year, after defeating Michelle Li of Canada in the finals of the Macau Open. Â
Meanwhile, 2014 was quite an even more eventful year. She finished runner-up at the India Grand Prix, reached the semis at the Swiss Open, the Asia Championships and the World Championships. She managed to break the title jinx by clinching the Macau Open for a second consecutive time. She was also awarded the NDTV Indian of the Year award the same year on top of the FICCI Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year.
Early on in 2015, the two-time World Championships bronze medalist fell short in the first few tournaments. She lost in the semis at the Malaysia Masters, and at the Syed Modi Grand Prix. She seemed to building a good foundation for the upcoming season, but then her fortunes took a nosedive. She was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the left foot and was forced to opt out of the All-England Championship. The only consolation in this period was the Padma Shri she received in March.
After the lay-off, Sindhu struggled as she crashed out in the initial stages even in second tier tournaments. When asked how hard it was to make a comeback after an injury, she said, âInjuries are bound to happen. Itâs part and parcel of a sportspersonâs life. I missed two big events â All England Championships and India Open. You just have to take good care of your body and hope for the bestâ to Sportskeeda.
Sindhu, being only 20 years old, has a lot of time to develop her game. âI want to work on my defence and thatâs not the only area Iâm looking to improve as all aspects of my game need attention. Itâs all about practicing hard, day in day out and it is only hard practice that can get you anywhere close to perfectionâ she said.Â
A few chinks exist here and there; consistency has been a major problem. But working with her idol at the Gachibowli Stadium, it wonât be that hard for Sindhu to become better. âBreaking into the top-10 is never easy, but staying there is very tough. You have to be really consistent to sustain yourself in the top-10. As for me, I will like to give myself three-four years and within that period I hope to become world number oneâ she said.
With an already impressive repertoire of titles for a 20-year old, she seems set to conquer the world of badminton. The Hyderabad girl is still a work in progress, and a lot more of her is yet to be witnessed. And once she irons out the small glitches in her impressive game, she seems set to carry the baton which Saina shall inevitably leave behind in a few years.
