The Hindu
Saturday, Jun 18, 2011
Sindhu, a Saina within the making
Stan Rayan
KOCHI: As she warms up on court docket, stretching her lengthy limbs, you get a sense that P.V. Sindhu is within the flawed 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 an alternative of aiming on the ho
op, the younger woman determined to chase ‘birds’ very early in life. And he or she’s proving to be a giant blessing for badminton.
Sindhu, the junior Nationwide champion from Secunderabad, gained her maiden worldwide girls’s title on the Maldives Problem final week. And on Thursday, her girls’s world rating shot up by 58 spots — from the earlier week’s 203 to 145.
However she’s made for greater issues, says Thomas John, a former British coach who had coached Gopi Chand, in England, and Saina Nehwal earlier.
“Sindhu could possibly be an even bigger power than Saina. She has good top, good temperament and he or she’s not flustered when she’s taking part in anyone,” mentioned 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 — could be an even bigger star than Gopi Chand. He had mentioned that the younger woman, who was simply starting to make it on the senior nationwide stage, could be a world-beater.
And now, he has wager it massive on Sindhu.
“She’s simply 15 however she’s already starting to make a mark within the girls’s circuit. Age is only a quantity in her case,” mentioned Thomas, who’s now teaching children 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,” mentioned 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 need to be the World No. 1 someday,” mentioned 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,” mentioned 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 provides her an enormous benefit, particularly in the case of smashes which may come from a really steep angle.
However some really feel her top could possibly be a drawback 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 will be very sturdy as she grows up. She has obtained it in her genes.”
Her mother and father have been each volleyball gamers.
Her dad, worldwide P.V. Ramana, was a centre-blocker within the Indian staff — a facet which included the good Jimmy George — which gained 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 School, is a former Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh star.
So how does it really feel for a 15-year-old to be in a girls’s world?
“After I play tournaments, I’m going with a free thoughts,” mentioned Sindhu, a former Asian junior (under-16) bronze medallist.
“Each time I play a seeded woman, I do not assume I’ll 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 strategy to the Maldives title.
Sindhu must work on her leg power and on her defence. And there can be loads of hurdles earlier than her.
Fortunately, age is on her facet.
Full story: http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/18/tales/2011061856631800.htm
