PV Sindhu announces legendary Prakash Padukone as her mentor in quest of Olympic gold

Former Indian badminton star Prakash Padukone has been chosen as a mentor by PV Sindhu on Sunday. Sindhu has been practicing with Prakash Padukone since the end of last August. Report claimed that the decision to work with Prakash Padukone was made about two weeks before the Asian Games when Sindhu left Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad.

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PV Sindhu will be training under Prakash Padukone at his academy in Bengaluru in the lead up to the Paris Olympics. Sindhu shifted to PPBA for a week in August before the Asian Games after a slew of poor outings this year.

Inicidently, Sindhu parted ways with her childhood coach Pullela Gopichand before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Sindhu's majority of success, including the Rio Olympics silver and Worlds gold, came under the tutelage of Gopichand.

"For those wondering and constantly asking me, the cat is finally out of the bag!! Prakash sir is assuming the role of the mentor in my setup," Sindhu wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

"Prakash sir is assuming the role of the mentor in my setup. I started training with him at the end of August, and it's been uphill ever since. He's more than a mentor; he's my guide, my guru, and, above all, a true friend. I wholeheartedly believe he possesses the magic to bring out the absolute best from my game. I am so grateful he reached out to me with one call when I was in Japan, and we've built on that connection exceptionally well," she added.

PV Sindhu has been struggling for form and as per a, the shuttler is nursing a sore left knee. She set the beginning of 2024 as her possible date for return to the court, the 28-year-old announced her decision to move to PPBA. Sindhu, ranked 11th in the world, has also opted for a protected ranking recently.

Sharing her views on the same, Sindhu said, "Definitely not anything major. But need a few weeks of rest and then I'll start my rehab. Because the ultimate aim is the Olympics. But before that, my motto is to come back completely 100% fit. Not 50% coming back and playing."

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Sindhu, a 2019 World Championships gold medallist, also extended her gratitude to Padukone for being her guiding force. Though Sindhu had made a very poor start to 2023 after recovering from an ankle injury sustained at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, she has shown signs of progress by making two consecutive semifinal finishes at the Arctic Open and Denmark Open. She also reached the final of the Madrid Spain Masters.

India's legendary shuttler Padukone is confident of getting her ward's form back on track. Padukone affirms that the long-term goal is an Olympic gold, the only medal which has eluded from Sindhu. She had won a silver at the Rio Olympics, and clinched a bronze in the previous games held in Tokyo.