The Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy is gearing up for something big. One of its most illustrious proteges, PV Sindhu, is coming back with something that athletes dream of when they take their first few steps in the sporting arena.
If the Olympic silver three years ago was a sublime achievement for the entire Indian badminton fraternity, the gold she earned at the World Championships on Sunday trumps that. It is the end result of a process that started about 14 years ago when the then 10-year-old Sindhu joined the academy.
In those days, the academy used to operate out of Gachibowli Stadium, with the current colossal facility getting inaugurated in 2008. No one at the academy had thought this kid would go on to do something that looked insurmountable not too long ago.
"When she joined, she was just like any other trainee. At that age, it is difficult to determine that a youngster will go on to do something remarkable," Gopichand Academy head coach Rajendra Kumar tells Express. Kumar has been looking after the trainees since 2004, when the academy became operational for the first time.
The coach says that Sindhu used to struggle in her formative years. Her career took a favourable turn when she started growing tall. "Until about 14 years of age, she used to suffer defeats against the top players of her age group quite regularly. That changed completely when she got tall. The same players were now finding it difficult to get past her since. She always had the build of an athlete since then," Kumar said.
Cut to the present, her consistently dominant performance at the Worlds could be attributed to a better fitness level. " Besides working on her defence and concentrating hard on her natural attacking game, she paid a lot of attention towards maintaining her fitness. That was quite evident in all the matches, as she never looked out of breath," P Vijaya, former national level volleyball player and Sindhu's mother, told this daily.
It must be mentioned that Sindhu is primarily coached by South Korean Kim Ji Hyun and the training schedule is designed by chief national coach Gopichand. There are two sessions in a day: a two-and-a-half-hour session in the morning and three hours in the evening. Wednesdays and Saturdays are half days, and Sundays are off. Gopichand is known to keep a strict tab on his students' eating habits during tournaments.
Other than being a world conquerer, the other trait in Sindhu that attracts attention is her humility. She can be seen chatting with junior players at the academy with the same earnestness as with her fellow shuttlers. "She has not changed even a bit even after achieving so much. She is always jovial and pays attention to everyone," Kumar said.
Before the tournament began, few people were contemplating the idea that she would come back with the top prize, considering the winless season she was undergoing. Her mother was not one of them. "She worked really hard for this. Her performance was getting better in the last few months. Skipping the Thailand Open just before the Worlds really helped her. So, I was quite confident that she would grab the gold this time," Vijaya concluded.
A joyous celebration awaits her when she returns to the city of pearls.