Anup Sridhar watched close to 25-30 hours of match footage from the time when PV Sindhu used to “play really well.” Their coaching partnership, alongside the elegant Korean Lee Hyun-il, is scribbled in for a 3-month trial basis at the moment. But Anup was keen to learn every minor detail about what had once clicked for Sindhu.
The tiniest of glimpses of that attacking game – circa 2014-2019, flickers of that aggressive intent, were visible on Thursday at the Denmark Open, when the 29-year-old returned to normalcy, which in Sindhu-Universe means taking on, and taking out the latest in-form Chinese. The pre-quarterfinals’ 18-21, 21-12, 21-16 win over World No.7 Han Yue, a winner at Finland’s Arctic Open last week, saw Sindhu give plentiful evidence of attacking play — she was taking the shuttle at the net as high as possible.
And unleashing many body-attacks on the Chinese fourth seed from there. It’s generally a harbinger of exciting times.
“It’s just the Round of 16, and personally there’s a long way to go before we see the old Sindhu. It’s actually 3-4 months too early to even set goals, though there’s big titles she hasn’t won. We still have fairly simple work left to master before we spell out targets,” Anup said after the 63-minute win.
When Anup flew in and flew out the same day from Hyderabad to discuss a possible coaching stint back in September, he had certain doubts. Like the rest of India. “When I met her team in Hyderabad, I had a chat where Sindhu was courteous, polite and genuinely nice. But I had to ask,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Please don’t feel bad, but honestly how hungry are you to continue?'”
For someone so accomplished, her motivation levels are bound to be a national curiosity at this stage — three Olympics, two medals, start of a new cycle, nothing left to prove — almost.
“But in the training sessions I saw, she would come on time, 100 percent focus, never complain about being tired. Her reply always is, ‘No bhaiyya, not tired, today I’ll push in training.’ All the time. Indian youngsters can really learn a lot from her commitment, despite her having achieved so much.”
Back in Odense, where she made her first major Tour final in 2015, losing to the then top Chinese, Xuerui Li, Sindhu ran into Han Yue, the current third-best ranked Chinese, but seeded 4th here. Sindhu fell back 14-20, but had been stomping the net lunge with such calm ferocity, that she would pull things back to 18-20, before dropping the opener.
But it had all been factored in. “It was part of strategy because Court 1 had considerable drift, with the tougher end to control the shuttle from the faster side. We had discussed that if she won the toss, she would choose this fast end, so she could finish from the easier slow side,” Anup explained.
It went to plan. Sindhu levelled sets in the second. But her eternal nemesis in the past few years has been the approach in the decider clutch against top players, especially when her leads are stolen. Sindhu led 6-3 from the tougher side, and promptly fell back 7-11. That was virtually 1-8 in that phase with Han Yue blocking Sindhu’s smashes deep. These passages have spelt doom so often, it’s difficult to remember when the Indian last beat a Top 10 player after ceding the lead and crumbling at the finish.
Keeping her cool
But Anup says Sindhu was prepared. “All credit to her. Right after the change in the decider, Sindhu made it 11-11 which was literally the difference between winning and losing. She kept her head, even after losing the 6-3 lead which can be very frustrating if you suddenly can’t control the shuttle. She moved on from the reverse,” he recalls.
Han had extracted quick errors, but from 11-11, Sindhu went on a rampage from the slower, easier side. Even when it got to 16-16, Sindhu’s coaching bench was confident she had this nailed.
One thing Anup has been certain about is that attack is the only way to go, for Sindhu. “There is no other way for her to win. It’s a test that she can’t skip. But we still have to figure out when to take a step back from all-out attack, because it’s a tougher game style on the body,” he explains. “There’s still quite a few things to unlearn before she regains that old attack.”
But for a coach who swears by the motto, ‘attitude brings altitude’, Sindhu’s high net aggression on Thursday was a decent start. “My job is to get her to play in a way that she’s hitting high at the net. Aggression has always worked for her.”
At Sindhu’s Hyderabad home, Anup had visited her trophy room. “When you actually see it, you think, man, this has been a fabulous career. But you watch her working hard at every session again and again, and it’s game-on even as coach,” says the former Olympian who insists there will be lots of chats on tactics and strategy before warm-ups at tournaments. For there’s bunch of scores to settle against the big names for the Indian World No.18, and one or two very specific titles still to be won.
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