NEW DELHI: PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, is in peak physical and mental condition as she prepares for her third Olympic appearance. However, she acknowledges that to secure a third medal at the Games, she must approach her pursuit with greater strategic intelligence.
Having already achieved the distinction of winning a silver and bronze medal at the previous Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, respectively, Sindhu is determined to make history by becoming the first Indian athlete to claim three Olympic medals when she competes in Paris.
"It is challenging, it's not easy but, at the same time, it's not impossible," PTI quoted Sindhu as saying during an interaction conducted by Sports Authority of India, the Indian Olympic Association and the Badminton Association of India.
"Going into the third Olympics, I need to be smarter. I have a lot of experience on my side and I need to be much smarter and I hope I can change the colour, and of course, get another medal for the country."
Sindhu is presently undergoing training at the Hermann-Neuberger Sportschule located in Saarbrucken, Germany. Her proposal to train at this facility was approved by the sports ministry. Once the Games commence on July 26, Sindhu will travel straight to Paris from her training location in Germany.
"... Physically and mentally I am right there, I just have to be smarter and my coach Agus (Dwi Santoso) has been taking care of that, my trainer has been taking care of my physical part.
"I am working on all the strokes, whether it is defense, or attack or netplay, it is important to be perfect in all things.
"So I'm not focussing on just one stroke or technique, because you never know what it is going to be, there are players who are smart enough to change and move to plan B.
"So you need to be prepared for it and I am focusing on practicing each and everything to make everything perfect -- each stroke, all techniques."
When asked why she picked Germany as her training base ahead of the Games, Sindhu said: "Prakash (Padukone) sir, and we all discussed and thought, it will be a good place, it is near to Paris, it is in between nowhere, so I am much more focussed.
"I have taken a few sparring partners and have a team and currently training here has been very peaceful. I can focus even more before the Olympics."
Sindhu has dedicated a significant amount of time to training and preparation for the upcoming Olympics. However, her performances have lacked consistency, and she has struggled to secure victories against the top-ranked players in her field. Despite these challenges, the Indian shuttler did achieve a notable result by reaching the final of the Malaysia Masters super 500 tournament, where she finished as the runner-up.
"It took me some time to come back (from injury) and I feel that now I'm doing well. Coming to the finals is not an easy thing. And, finishing matches, not finishing matches, it depends on how we play.
"Sometimes nothing might work out," she said, referring to the loss in the Malaysian Masters final.
"I feel that there's been a lot of improvement and I know that I can do much better and I'm confident that I'm getting there. I need to keep believing in myself and keep working much harder.
"I feel the Olympics is something where it will be very different. I don't want to compare with others but looking at my form, I'm in great shape and it's just that you have to play very differently with every player.
"It's a different style of play. I think the strategy will be very different whether it is Chen Yu Fei or An Seyoung. It also depends on the draws, with whom I play. Looking forward to going to the Olympics. So, yeah, hoping for the best."
Sindhu, a former trainee of Pullela Gopichand in Hyderabad, recently relocated to Bengaluru after experimenting with four different coaches within a year. The top-ranked badminton player believes that the current competitive landscape in the sport is extremely intense.
"I've played two Olympics and this will be my third and every time the game keeps changing, every Olympics there are different players.
"So it is going to be very challenging and really hard because one is we know each other's game and two is the game has completely changed and I think there are a lot of players who would be looking at your game, how you're playing, what are they doing, what needs to be done.
"So there are a lot of tactics and techniques which will go into this and also physically and mentally you need to be much stronger, much smarter."
Sindhu also discussed the valuable guidance she has been receiving from her mentor, Prakash Padukone. Sindhu expressed her gratitude towards Padukone for her constant support and constructive feedback.
"Prakash sir has been seeing my matches and he's been telling me a few things if I'm making mistakes. He observes a lot.
"When he sat behind me in the last All England and French Open, his inputs were quite simple. He just always told me that you know just play freely and just give your best."
