Smarter Sindhu eyes better medal

Having won silver in 2016 and bronze in 2020, India’s star shuttler believes she needs to be physically and mentally sharper in bid to go a step further on the victory podium in Paris Olympics

India’s star shuttler PV Sindhu has experience by her side and is well aware of the high expectations and pressure, but insists that if she wants to win her third Olympic medal in Paris, she needs to be smarter. Sindhu, who won silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games, heads to the Paris Games (July 26 to August 11) with the hope of becoming the first Indian sportsperson to bag three Olympic medals.

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“I’m aware that all eyes will be on me in Paris. It’s not going to be easy. It’s very challenging. At the same time, it’s not impossible. I have a lot of experience on my side. I need to be smarter. I hope I can change the colour of the medal. The Olympics are very different from other competitions. I cannot take any player lightly even if she’s ranked lower. This is my third Olympics and it’s tough because we [world’s top players] know each other’s game very well. Also, there are a lot of tactics and techniques that will come into play. Physically and mentally you need to be stronger and smarter. Now, it’s more of a rally game and everybody’s defence has become very strong and even physically they have become stronger,” said Sindhu during an interaction conducted by Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Sunday.

Sindhu has chosen to train at the Hermann-Neuberger Sportschule in Saarbrucken, Germany, and will head to Paris from there. “Physically and mentally I’m right there. I just have to play smarter and my coach Agus [Dwi Santoso] has been taking care of that. I’m working on all my strokes, whether it’s defence, attack or net-play, it is important to perfect them all. 

“So I’m not just  focussing on one stroke or technique, because you never know what your opponent can come up with. There are players, who are smart enough to change and switch to Plan B. I need to keep believing in myself, stay injury-free and keep working harder. I’m in great shape, it’s just that you have to play differently with each player as their playing styles differ. So, my strategy will be different if it’s say [China’s] Chen Yu Fei or [South Korea’s] An Seyoung. It also depends on the draw,” explained Sindhu.

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