Lack of competitions before the Olympics is a major concern for Indian shuttlers but not so much for PV Sindhu, who trusts her Korean coach Park Tae Sang to create match situations for her in training itself.
Owing to the raging Covid-19 pandemic, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has been forced to cancel the remaining three Olympic qualifiers in India, Malaysia and Singapore.
These were to be the last set of events before the Tokyo Games in July-August.
Asked if the cancellations will affect her preparations, Sindhu said: “Well, we were thinking that Singapore will be the last event before the Olympics, but now we don’t have another option. So I am playing matches against different players and my coach Park is trying to create match situations for me in training.
“Different players have different styles like Tai Tzu-Ying or Ratchanok (Intanon) have different styles of play. But Park is there to guide me, to prepare me for it,” Sindhu said. “Obviously, we will be playing each other after a few months and there will be something new in our games, so I will have to prepare for that.”
The 25-year-old endorsed BWF’s decision to cancel the events, saying while it is sad that competitions could not take place, but human life is more important than sports.
“It is sad that the whole world has come to a standstill but before sportspersons, we are human beings and life comes first,” Sindhu said. “If tournaments happen, we don’t know if we will be safe… we can’t be sure because we don’t know from where this virus will come.”
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, said it will be a tough task for organisers and athletes to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols in a showpiece event like the Olympics and everyone has to brace up for the challenge.
“At the Olympics, I have heard that every day they will be testing us. Before we take off, we have to clear an RT-PCR test and after reaching there we do a test again, it is definitely a tough task.”
Sindhu, who had reached the final of Swiss Open in March after returning to action following a long break, said she is improving as a player.
“It has been a good campaign so far this year. I have been improving as a player. My coach has analysed my game. Am really looking forward to the Olympics.”
