- Friday, June 06, 2025
The 29-year-old has struggled to maintain consistency this season and has been training under well-known Indonesian coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim
By: India Weekly
TWO-TIME Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, who has been battling lackluster form, claims she is on the right track and not far from reclaiming her place among the world’s top players.
The 29-year-old has struggled to maintain consistency this season, with deep runs eluding her despite training under well-known Indonesian coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.
On Thursday, her inability to close out matches came to the fore again as she let slip a 15-11 lead in the decider to lose 22-20, 10-21, 18-21 to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 in Jakarta.
“I’ve a new coach. We started playing since January. It took some time to actually come together and work together accordingly. Sometimes it takes time for both to understand each other as a coach and a player,” Sindhu said.
“But things are going on well and of course there’s a lot of scope to improve as well and I think we are on the right track.”
After suffering a hamstring injury during training in Guwahati in February, Sindhu has faced early exits in many tournaments this season.
“I’m positive that it’s not really far away, but I think again it’s just one tournament at a time for me,” said Sindhu when asked how far she is from the top players at the moment.
“It’s also important to go back and learn from your mistakes because every tournament is fresh, every tournament is new. But I think it’s not too far away. I can see that and I’m positive.
“And of course my coach and me are working really hard to come up. So yeah, I hope that we’ll be there soon.”
Asked about the kind of changes she needs to make at this stage of her career, Sindhu said: “I need to make sure I’m injury free. And I think I have to maintain my condition as well because it’s not easy. And I’m not a junior anymore.
“Of course it’s important to make sure everything is going in the right way. Overtraining also sometimes would lead to injury and if you train less again, you need to keep up with the youngsters as well.
“So you need to know the equal ground and keep going. So yeah, it’s not going to be easy.”
Sindhu, who has won five world championship medals, including two silver and a gold, believes the sport has evolved significantly over the last decade.
“The game has changed, I would say, in terms of I think back then in 2016, I think it was more of an attacking game. But I think now it’s more of like, you know, long rallies and, you know, it’s more of the clear and drops. And of course, defense has become very, very strong.
“So, we should be prepared for long rallies and long games. I think compared to back then, now it’s become more of a rally game.”
