Lakshya Sen's Ex-Coach, Now PV Sindhu's Trainer, Sets New Goal For Badminton Star

PV Sindhu still has the hunger to succeed, and the primary aim is to help her regain consistency, says her new coach Anup Sridhar, who has been roped in by the two-time Olympic medallist on a trial basis following the Paris Games. Sindhu, who returned from the French capital without a medal for the first time in three Olympics, has been training under Sridhar, a Beijing Olympian, for the past three weeks at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad.

"I spoke with Sindhu's team a few weeks ago, and she has been training under me in Hyderabad since the start of this month. We've made significant progress, and in two weeks, we'll head to tournaments in Europe," the 41-year-old Sridhar, who also briefly coached Lakshya Sen, told PTI.

Sindhu lost in the pre-quarters to China's He Bingjiao at the Paris Games and will restart her BWF world tour season with the European leg, which includes the USD 420,000 Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland (October 8-13), and the USD 850,000 Denmark Open (October 15-20) in Odense.

"I'm taking it week by week," said Sridhar, who has been brought on board for the remainder of the season after Indonesian Agus Dwi Santoso's contract ended post-Paris Olympics.

"Since we haven't committed to anything long-term, it's hard to plan for 2025. However, there are a couple of tournaments in 2025 that Sindhu should aim to peak at," he said.

"You can plan for physical peaks, but not for form. I have my eye on a few tournaments next year, but the immediate focus is to enhance her consistency and get her back on the podium -- that's the big goal." Sindhu last won the Singapore Open and Commonwealth Games in 2022 and finished as runner-up at the Madrid Spain Masters in 2023 and the Malaysia Masters Super 500 in May this