The Hindu
Saturday, Jun 18, 2011
Sindhu, a Saina within the making
Stan Rayan
KOCHI: As she warms up on courtroom, stretching her lengthy limbs, you get a sense that P.V. Sindhu is within the mistaken sport. She’s simply 15 however she’s already 5’11, and nonetheless rising.
She would have been a blessing for Indian basketball, however as a substitute of aiming on the ho
op, the younger woman determined to chase ‘birds’ very early in life. And she or he’s proving to be a giant blessing for badminton.
Sindhu, the junior Nationwide champion from Secunderabad, received her maiden worldwide ladies’s title on the Maldives Problem final week. And on Thursday, her ladies’s world rating shot up by 58 spots — from the earlier week’s 203 to 145.
However she’s made for larger issues, says Thomas John, a former British coach who had coached Gopi Chand, in England, and Saina Nehwal earlier.
“Sindhu could possibly be a much bigger pressure than Saina. She has good peak, good temperament and she or he’s not flustered when she’s enjoying anyone,” stated the Indian-born Thomas, on the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium right here on Friday.
Six years in the past, Thomas had predicted that Saina — then simply 15 — can be a much bigger star than Gopi Chand. He had stated that the younger woman, who was simply starting to make it on the senior nationwide stage, can be a world-beater.
And now, he has guess it massive on Sindhu.
“She’s simply 15 however she’s already starting to make a mark within the ladies’s circuit. Age is only a quantity in her case,” stated Thomas, who’s now teaching kids in Lucknow.
Thomas had coached Sindhu, together with Saina, at Gopi Chand’s Academy in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, for about two years.
“She was round 12 and a wispy little woman then,” stated Thomas. “I used to take her for tournaments. Generally, she used to actually collapse in exhaustion.”
However now Sindhu is so much stronger and brimming with confidence too.
Large dream
“I wish to be the World No. 1 someday,” stated the younger woman, the ladies’s singles bronze medalist on the Indian Grand Prix in Hyderabad in December.
“Saina is a powerhouse, bursting with vitality,” stated Thomas. “Sindhu is extra wily; she’s extra just like the Aparna Popat sort of participant.”
Together with an exquisite attain, her tall body additionally gives her an enormous benefit, particularly in the case of smashes which may come from a really steep angle.
However some really feel her peak could possibly be an obstacle whereas diving and whereas dealing with drops.
In her genes
“Top is a handicap if you don’t work on sure areas,” defined Thomas. “Sindhu might be very sturdy as she grows up. She has acquired it in her genes.”
Her dad and mom had been each volleyball gamers.
Her dad, worldwide P.V. Ramana, was a centre-blocker within the Indian crew — a aspect which included the nice Jimmy George — which received the Asian Video games bronze in Seoul in 1986, the nation’s final medal within the sport on the Video games.
And her mom Vijaya who studied at Chennai’s Vaishnav Faculty, is a former Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh star.
So how does it really feel for a 15-year-old to be in a ladies’s world?
“Once I play tournaments, I’m going with a free thoughts,” stated Sindhu, a former Asian junior (under-16) bronze medallist.
“Each time I play a seeded woman, I do not suppose I will lose. I simply see that I play my finest.”
That constructive perspective noticed her hassle many gamers within the World’s high 50, together with two on her option to the Maldives title.
Sindhu must work on her leg energy and on her defence. And there will likely be loads of hurdles earlier than her.
Fortunately, age is on her aspect.
Full story: http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/18/tales/2011061856631800.htm