My biggest aim is to get PV Sindhu back on the podium: Coach Sridhar | Other sports news

PV Sindhu still has the ambition to succeed and the main aim is to help her become consistent again, says her new coach Anup Sridhar, who has been roped in by the two-time Olympic medallist on a trial basis after the Paris Games.

Sindhu, who returned from the French capital without a medal for the first time in three Olympics, has been training under the guidance of Sridhar, a Beijing Olympic competitor, at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad for the past three weeks.

“I spoke to Sindhu’s team a few weeks ago and she has been training under me in Hyderabad since early this month. We have made significant progress and in two weeks’ time we will be going to tournaments in Europe,” the 41-year-old Sridhar, who also briefly coached Lakshya Sen, told PTI.

“You can plan for physical peaks, but you can’t plan for form. I’ve got my eye on a few tournaments next year, but the immediate focus is on improving her consistency and getting her back on the podium — that’s the big goal.”

Sindhu last won the Singapore Open and the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and was runner-up at the Madrid Spain Masters in 2023 and the Malaysia Masters Super 500 in May this year.

“We have been following our training schedule without missing any sessions. I am working on helping her unlearn certain things while introducing new elements into her game.”

Sindhu suffered a knee injury at Roland Garros last October and returned to competition just five months before the Paris Olympics.

“If we can get her to a level where she can consistently get through the early rounds regardless of her draw or opponent, then she has a real chance of making a strong comeback.”

Sridhar said that Sindhu has achieved almost everything in badminton.

“…but her hunger remains. She works extremely hard and is a great role model for the rest of the Indian badminton players.”

Sindhu made a series of coaching changes in the run-up to the Paris Olympics. After winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, her South Korean coach, Park Tae Sang, parted ways with her in early 2023.

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