Paris 2024 will feature a seven-player Indian contingent including the high-flying men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu. In an exclusive interaction with JioCinema in Paris, Sindhu’s mentor Prakash Padukone discussed Sindhu’s chances of making it a hattrick of Olympic medals, the preparation of the Indian contingent and other medal hopefuls.
You have been working with PV Sindhu, do you think she is in line to complete a hattrick of Olympic medals?
That’s what we are trying and hoping for. She has worked incredibly hard for that. However, at this level, one cannot commit for sure. Her preparations have gone well, and she is playing well in practice sessions. So, in terms of preparations, everything has been very good.
What aspects have you been working on, considering she is now older and more experienced, but her body has also endured a lot?
I am focusing on tactics and strategy on the court, on what strokes to use when, and a little to do with the mind. About nine months ago, she was little low on confidence due to frequent coaching changes and not being able to identify what was going wrong. We’ve worked on her mental strength and strategy, ensuring she makes better use of the right strokes. We’ve tried to cut down on mistakes and playing percentage badminton — knowing when to attack, defend, and play safe. So it is finally all coming through, but it remains to be seen if she can reproduce that form during the Olympics.
PV Sindhu is a big tournament player and has a reputation for delivering in big tournaments like the World Championships and Olympics. Do you see that happening again, especially considering her recent performances?
Definitely. She has not been at her best recently, this might reduce the pressure on her. Expectations are lower, and even reaching the quarter finals will be seen positively. But I am looking beyond that. If she is able to reproduce the form, like what she’s doing in practice, I think she’ll do better than in the past tournaments. The difference at the top is so little and it is also about handling pressure in Olympics, and Sindhu has an advantage as she has won two Olympic medals. We keep reminding her to focus on her game, and the end result will be good.
While working with Sindhu, you have also observed other players. What are your expectations from the Indian badminton contingent at Paris 2024?
We have a chance in all the three events: men’s singles, women’s singles and the men’s doubles. The men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, have been very consistent and have beaten top players. They also have a fairly good draw. Lakshya Sen has a tough group, but he has previously beaten his group opponents Jonatan Christie, Kevin Cordón and Julien Carraggi so it depends on his current form. It’s his first Olympics, but he shouldn’t be worrying about that and consider this as any other tournament. HS Prannoy has not been in the best form, but sometimes it could be a blessing in disguise as there is little weight of expectations and you might reach the peak now, it can go both ways. We are definitely contenders in these three events. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in women’s doubles have a challenging draw, but if they can qualify further, that will be icing on the cake.
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