P V Sindhu – The test was stern, but there’s a lot to learn!

P V Sindhu in action.

P V Sindhu has proved her worth. She is just 18 and with this achievement of getting a bronze in the badminton World Championships, she has scaled a new height.

This bronze, a first in women’s singles for India, is especially important – as other stars like Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap were knocked out in the pre-quarter finals. It is pertinent to add that India landed a medal in the World Championships after a gap of 30 years (Prakash Padukone’s was the last one in 1983 in Copenhagen).

Even the Chinese player beaten by Sindhu, despite holding a much higher ranking, appreciated Sindhu’s skill. Sindhu is known for her cool temper, hard work and devotion towards the game, and by virtue of this, she has kept the hopes of a nation alive.

Obviously, Sindhu’s achievement has been highlighted on priority in almost every news paper and other mode of media. A former Asian champion and great Indian shuttler Dinesh Khanna, in an interview published in Hindustan Times, said that Sindhu did not get a chance to play her attacking game in the semifinals.

Khanna said that attaining a bronze medal at the age of 18 is a big achievement. But he also appreciated Ratchanok, who literally tied up Sindhu with her solid game – not giving any chance to the Indian to attack. He further explained about Ratchanok having a lot of deception in her strokes and that one has to come right under the shuttle after quick anticipation.

Sindhu had no chance to do so. Khanna said Ratchanok forced Sindhu to commit mistakes and Sindhu was relying on her guess work as to where the shuttle would be placed. Playing cleverly, Ratchanok contained Sindhu throughout the match, and the latter could not counter it despite her best all out efforts.

Khanna claimed that today badminton has become a game of speed and power play, but contrary to this, Ratchanok used shuttle force and brain. Like Sindhu, the Chinese also play the power game and Sindhu’s fitness level is perfect, but she does not possess a variety of strokes and playing with deception.

Sindhu is a good player and had already played Ratchanok before, but she could not give her best this time. Ratchanok played a flawless game, almost like Thai silk. But on the other hand, Sindhu is a very quick learner and it will be interesting to watch her playing in the Indian Badminton League starting from 14^th August.

Another former Indian international coach Vimal Kumar has opined that P V Sindhu has got a bright future – but that she would have to learn from the mistakes. P V Rammana, former national volleyball player and father of P V Sindhu, also said that there was a drift on one side of the court and she will have to learn how to deal with this kind of a situation. He also said Sindhu could not present a challenge today.

P V Sindhu said that she is a bit disappointed, but happy at the same time that she could win a medal. This was her first world championship and this is a big win. After recovering from injury, she wanted to give her one hundred percent. The semifinal was really tough and her opponent played well. Sindhu also revealed that she committed mistakes and intends to make a strong comeback and perform better.

What an honest statement by an honest Indian. Move forward fighter, the whole nation’s blessings are with you. For the world knows your hard work and commitment. Every Indian is proud of you. Best wishes for the IBL.