PV Sindhu Low On Confidence, Not A Medal Favourite At Asian Games: Vimal Kumar

Repeated failures in tournaments this season has dented PV Sindhu's confidence and not much should be expected from the ace Indian shuttler at the Asian Games, says former India coach Vimal Kumar. The double Olympic medallist has found the going tough ever since returning from a five-month long lay-off following an ankle injury en-route to the Commonwealth Games gold last August. Desperate to arrest the slide, the 28-year-old sought help of legendary Prakash Padukone and trained under him at his Academy PPBA in Bengaluru last week.

"We have been sitting and observing her sessions. Prakash spoke to her and tried to motivate her. We have also interacted with her coach (Muhammad Hafiz Hashim)," Vimal, who is the director of the PPBA, told PTI.

"She is at the moment low on confidence and she has some work to do. We shouldn't expect much from her at the Asian Games," he added.

The 2019 world champion has lost seven times in the first round of BWF tour events this year.

A semifinal finish at the Canada Open and two quarterfinals -- US Open super 300 and Australian Open super 500 -- are the only notable performances so far this season.

Plagued by a string of underwhelming performances, Sindhu had conceded that the quarterfinal loss at the US Open had "a significant emotional impact" on her.

"This loss has left a significant emotional impact on me, especially considering the challenging and demanding year I've had. It's disheartening to experience a disappointing defeat after each successful tournament," she wrote on 'X' in July.

After observing the shuttler from close quarters during her week-long stint, Vimal feels Sindhu needs to make a few technical changes in her game and is likely to take some time to regain her form.

"She