“Sindhu is not 21-22 years old anymore. So to expect her to be the same as Rio Olympics is unrealistic.”
“Sindhu is just 29. So she has a good 3-4 years left when she can be competitive at the topmost level.”
As her newest coach, maintaining optimism about PV Sindhu’s future is part of Anup Sridhar’s job. But India’s Beijing 2008 Olympian who hit the high notes of his career scalping Taufik Hidayat at the 2007 World Championships, is acutely acquainted with the down times – when nothing quite is going your way, expectations remain sky-high and the friendly suggestion to move over, make way for fresh, young talent and gently retire, is on the tip of all tongues. He even double checked, if beyond this noise, Sindhu herself still had the hunger to continue. Because the other option to hang up her boots – she really has many laurels to smugly sit on – is deservedly inviting.
But Sindhu insisted she will give it another crack. So Indian badminton finds itself cagily viewing a former champion, who’s filling in a few blanks that are personally important to her, though posers on her ability to pull off title-winning runs will stay persistent. It’s Sindhu’s career, and nobody else can frankly decide on what she must do with it. The question to ponder might be, can she win big titles at 29?
Her ranking slipped a further two places to No 18 last week. She exited the Arctic Open early, but scalped a familiar Chinese opponent Han Yue at Odense, Denmark making quarters. There aren’t major injuries she’s battling, though at 29, even niggles irritate. But Sindhu’s recovery-game has always been her strong suit. Where then can Anup Sridhar and Lee Hyun-il, the Korean with a cult following among Indians, chip in to resurrect this career? It’s seen as a bonus by the kinder estimations, and scoffed at as a washed-out pop-star’s Asia Tour-gig by the muttering mean-spirited ones. But what really drives her back to training?
The Sindhu Victory Roar that everyone waited for💥🤍 https://t.co/3aUdtMjoRW pic.twitter.com/B4w737ZE1Y
— H A R S H (@Blazie_Harsh) October 17, 2024
Intanon Ratchanok, the 2013 World Champion when she was 17, is still kicking backsides on the circuit, at the same age. Carolina Marin, at 31, hasn’t announced her retirement, and the Spaniard is never gone till she’s gone – be it in a match, or her career. Denied a second Olympic final and medal by injury in the Paris semis, one never knows how she will retaliate in 2025 to having had enough of Enough itself. Nozomi Okuhara, also 29, hasn’t stopped trying her luck, though Japan moved on from her, long ago. It’s a wickedly dangerous quartet of try-ers, taking Dylan Thomas’ commandment to rage and rave rather seriously around the 30-year-mark. So when Anup Sridhar stresses on every word in “she’s only 29”, Sindhu’s future choices don’t seem as straightforward. These are former World Champions we are talking about here.
In recent years, American Beiwen Zhang, now 34, and Michelle Li, now 32, have brought in the sweet smiling matriarch’s menace by keeping much younger opponents on their toes. Young Anupama Upadhyaya thought she had Li Michelle under the pump at Canada Open – the Indian, barely 20, didn’t know what hit her in the decider. They make up for speed with experience, and in Sindhu’s case, the central issue has always been pin-point court strategy and tactics, not massive physical diminishing of powers. A good coach could always set it right, and Pullela Gopichand would’ve been perfect. But Anup and Hyun-il can certainly prop up the skills and court-craft if she can push endurance metrics in the third set.
The goal-setting is fairly obvious. Sindhu is yet to beat current Olympic champion, An Se-young, and these matchups are scores worth settling. She can also do with avenging her loss to Tomoka Miyazaki, if we are being blunt about the age-game. She’s never won Indonesia and Malaysia Opens – for stringing together 5 solid days against the best has seemed difficult. She will be 31 at the next Asiad, and there’s no gold from there, however impossible it sounds given how she’s combusted last few years.
The real missing one though would be the All England, though even uttering it puts pressure on Indians. Satwik-Chirag, when fit, are more in that contending orbit, than Sindhu is. And there is no indication that a revival is imminent. But it’s precisely the lead-up she would like – under the radar, written off, and not fiercely hungry, instead a casual, “Why not?” no pressure, low-stakes aim-taking at the dart board.
Inspiration is to be found in the shuttler Sindhu most resembles: Tine Baun, née Rasmussen, of Denmark. Both 5’11”, similarly rangy, not over-flowing with deceptive talent, but with an ability to play within her limitations. Tine won the first of her 3 All Englands in 2008 at age 29. She made 4 finals in all, also winning in 2010 and 2013 – on either side of her wedding, and the tall Dane made finals in 2009, losing to Yihan Wang.
Tine found no luck prior to winning All England at the Olympics, and was a certified late-bloomer. But what she aced with her physiotherapist-partner was late 20s, tall-agility — to contend for her favourite title in Europe.
While Sindhu has battled a wide variety of opponents from different countries, and insane playing styles, Tine’s challenges were different but no less debilitating. In the 10 years before she won at Birmingham in 2008, the Chinese had won All England 9 times. The Chinese stranglehold on titles back then used to be multi-pronged and relentless. But the Dane found herself a sturdy, reliable defense, and put her tall frame to great use to attack with unbridled power. Sindhu, far more accomplished and chiseled in her strokeplay, can do the same if she regains her attacking groove and confidence.
At a very practical level, every loss on the circuit now will fetch her the same old, 7-word, adverb-deficient and grammatically poor scoffing insults of trolls. Words like ‘old’, ‘retire’, ‘money waste’ and ‘didi’ will be assembled in different disrespectful patterns, and regurgitated ad nauseous.
Sindhu can allow herself 5 minutes to feel bad about them daily, and move on to training for the titles she hasn’t won. There’s not too many badminton world champions in India anyway, who can step into her shoes, and crave for that missing All England.
