Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indifferent Sindhu might shine at the right time

India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu had a roller-coaster ride in 2019. Although she became the first Indian to win the World Championship in August, she also gold eliminated at the initial stages of many tournaments. However, the 24-year-old is committed to improve her performance and add to her Olympics medal tally by turning the silver she won in Rio into gold at the prestigious quadrennial event set to be held in Tokyo this year. Sindhu had missed out on the gold medal as she lost to Spain's Carolina Marin in the summit clash in the 2016 Olympics.

Her form dipped a bit as she made early exits from the China Open and Korea Open to slip to the sixth spot in the latest rankings. She reached the finals of the Indonesian Open, and the semifinals at both the Indian Open and Singapore Open. However, at the BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, she failed to defend her title, losing her first two matches. Sindhu’s best run post the World Championships was to the quarterfinals at the 2019 French Open.

Struggling to hit top gear

In the 2020 Premier Badminton League (PBL), Sindhu who’s representing Hyderabad Hunters has not been able to perform that well against everyone’s expectations. In front of a roaring home crowd that tried to perk up the world champion, Sindhu suffered an 8-15, 9-15 defeat to the North Eastern Warriors ace Michelle Li. In another much anticipated clash, World No 2 Tai Tzu Ying beat the world champion PV Sindhu to guide Bengaluru Raptors to victory on Friday.

Sindhu is a player who profits more from her power rather than her precision. She has been the most effective when she’s had the right amount of rest and recuperation, which hasn’t always been the case due to the scheduling of tournaments. According to coach Pullela Gopichand, the courts in Japan will suit PV Sindhu. There is no doubt he has a plan in mind for Tokyo and it has been reported that he’ll start traveling with his star students from the end of the year. Gopichand has quoted is too good a player, and being a big-tournament player she has the knack of shining at the biggest stages. The World No. 6 will also be looking to reassert her authority in the World Tour and climb up the rankings.

Sindhu has proved time and again her ability to fight back and rise beyond a spell of bad form and with some much-needed rest and time off the court, one can hope for better things to fall PV Sindhu’s way come the 2020 badminton season along with a successful Tokyo Olympics schedule which gets underway from July 24th.

Pullela Gopichand.