NAGOYA: Imagine this. You are an elite badminton player and you play your first match at 3 pm. You are back on court for your second match just nine hours later, around midnight. You win that as well before heading back to recovery. By the time you sleep, it's 3 am.
But you can only sleep for six hours as you have to head back to the stadium for a big quarterfinal match. There is hardly any time to recover. In a physically intensive sport like badminton, it can be brutal. An elite player can burn around 1000 calories in a match that lasts over one hour. The lower limbs and core are in overdrive.
PV Sindhu was not happy with the schedule. The double Olympic medallist broke down the last 24 hours. She played at 3 pm because the matches were running late. She couldn’t go back to the hotel because it was too far. “I couldn't go back because the hotel was very far. We had to stay here. And then the matches kept getting delayed, and then they shifted my match from court 1 to court 2, and I played around 12 am.” By the time she finished and went back to the room, it was 1:30 am. “I had to eat a bit and do some recovery and sleep; it was almost 3.”
Deprived of sleep and without much recovery, things were always going to be difficult. Just imagine rallies as long as 122 seconds (in the third game), 95 seconds (in the second game) and the match lasting the distance. She finally lost 21-11, 18-21,10-21. At the end of the second game, after one of the longest rallies when Chen reached game point, Sindhu was kneeling on the court, exhausted even as she was trying to summon the last remaining ounce of energy left in her. Top badminton players require at least 24 hours for basic recovery, both physical and mental, after gruelling matches. Otherwise, it can be challenging. Here, she had to play one extra match on the first day of singles because the organizers cramped the competition into five days instead of six.
Sindhu said as much after the loss. And at her age, 31, it is apt as the body needs longer to recover. She said the schedule was not “really well organised”. The body revolts, and legs don’t take command from the brain. “We literally slept really late and then coming back in the morning, playing two matches in a day! It’s difficult,” she said. Recovery is equally important. “Even though you think you are doing physically well, you might not be able to go there, or you might not be able to play,” she said. “When there are long rallies, recovery is important. Your legs don't move.”
Sindhu was not alone. Jonathan Christie, who had a late-night game, slammed the organisers. If Sindhu slept at 3 am, Chrisie slept at 3.30 am. “Low battery because I finished (my third) round at 02:00 (Sunday morning). What a shame. I slept at 03:30 and woke up at 09:00 and prepared and came here. Then the umpire was (saying) ‘Jonathan quick, quick, quick’. I don’t know. I’m very disappointed with the organiser.” Even Kodai Naraoka of Japan felt the scheduling was tough, as players are not used to playing two matches in one day.
If the schedule was cruel, there were some 50-50 line calls that could have tilted the match in her favour, but there were no cameras on the fourth court and so no reviews. The players are so used to playing with cameras that without them, they feel something is missing from the match. Sindhu too realised that as players instinctively raise their hands whenever the shuttle kisses the line. Sindhu too had three moments like that. She felt that in an Asian Games quarterfinal, one should have cameras.
“I felt that two-three shots were on the line and felt that in the quarterfinals of Asian Games, there should be a camera because these are the crucial matches,” she said. She felt that if one gets the point, it is good. “You are on the upper hand,” she said.
This could be the last Asian Games for Sindhu but she is giving herself one year at a time. As long as she is enjoying it, she would continue. Sindhu spoke about how life has changed after her marriage. Her husband understands her and guides her when required. “It's very important to understand. Sometimes you have bad days, sometimes you have good days. I think as your better half, you need to understand what you're going through, what to do or what needs to be done next. It's important to give you that support when you're really at your lowest point. That's very important, and I think he understands it very well. I am happy that I've gotten a very understanding partner.”
Sindhu says her husband tells her what mistakes she has made too. “Everybody has a different perspective. It is good in a way because to know what you have done or what needs to be done. Coach also tells you his input, what he feels, but I think as your better half, he understands you, he makes you understand, how like you should have or you could have done that. Sometimes he travels with me and, you know, backs you up every single time. That's very important.”
