Badminton | PV Sindhu Needs to Give More Attention to Recovery Between Matches to Win Medal at Tokyo Olympics: Vimal Kumar

Asked about London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for her fourth Olympics, Vimal said it will very tough for her to make it to Tokyo given her recent results.

World champion PV Sindhu remains India’s best Olympic medal prospect but she has to give more attention to her recovery process between matches to achieve the feat at the Tokyo Olympics, believes former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar. Sindhu didn’t have a good outing in the three events in Thailand in January and even though she reached the finals at Swiss Open or the semifinals at All England, she suffered demoralising losses to Olympic champion Carolina Marin and Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.

“I feel the best (Olympic) medal prospect is Sindhu, she can and there is still time. She showed some glimpses against Akane Yamaguchi (at All England quarters). But she needs to give more attention to recovery to be ready for next match because there will not be 24 hours to recover,” Vimal was quoted by PTI.

“May be ice bath, there are so many ways to get rid of the lactic acid accumulation after a tough match. If she can look into those aspects, she will be all right. I don’t think she has any fitness issue.”

At the Swiss Open final, Sindhu was blown away by Marin 12-21 5-21, while Chochuwong beat the Indian 21-17 21-9 in the semifinals at All England. However, the Indian showed great intensity during her win over Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the All England quarterfinals.

“She has been very sluggish against Marin and Pornpawee. Between matches what you do, that matters, it is sometimes tough to recover due to the schedule. Look at the tennis players, after 5-6 hours of gruelling matches, they again play five-setters. So recovery really matters,” Vimal said.

“Some top players take ice bath immediately after a match and also before going to sleep. It is very common in international level…But I think you need to give her some space and she will come back.”

Asked about London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for her fourth Olympics, Vimal said it will very tough for her to make it to Tokyo given her recent results.

“Saina is still injury-prone but she can qualify but it all depends on India Super 500, she has to do well here. It is a very tough job, after India Open, she also has to do well in Malaysia and Singapore,” said Vimal who coached Saina from 2014 to 2017.