PV Sindhu parts ways with Park Tae-Sang; ‘She wanted a change,’ says Korean coach

Indian badminton player PV Sindhu has parted ways with her South Korean coach Park Tae-Sang and will train with Malaysia’s Hafiz Hashim ahead of the All England Open BWF Super 1000 tournament in March. 

Park Tae-Sang, initially hired as the men’s singles coach for the Indian team, took over as PV Sindhu’s coach following Kim Ji Hyun’s departure towards the end of 2019.

Park trained PV Sindhu for the Tokyo 2020 Games and helped her become the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals.

PV Sindhu also credited Park Tae-Sang after winning the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 Olympics and had revealed that Park’s motivation helped her win the bronze medal after a heartbreaking semi-final defeat.

Under Park Tae-Sang’s tutelage, PV Sindhu won the Singapore Open in July last year. It was her first BWF Super 500 title. 

A month later, PV Sindhu clinched her first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham but back-to-back injuries derailed PV Sindhu’s plans. 

PV Sindhu’s return to badminton this year has been worrying to say the least. She made first-round exits at Malaysia Open and India Open and was also stretched by lower-ranked opponents during the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships.

“She (PV Sindhu) has made disappointing moves in all recent matches, and as a coach, I feel responsible,” Park Tae-Sang wrote on his social media pages. 

“She (PV Sindhu) wanted a change and said she would find a new coach. I decided to respect and follow her decision. I'm sorry that I can't be with her until the next Olympics, but now I'm going to support her from afar,” Park Tae-Sang added.

With Park no longer by her side, former Malaysian badminton star Hafiz Hashim will assist PV Sindhu ahead of the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham to be held from March 14 to 19.

Hafiz Hashim, a former All England Open men’s singles champion himself, will be working with Sindhu at the Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad.

“The director (of Suchitra Academy) asked me to provide some assistance to Sindhu for the All-England. I will not be her coach but will share my experience and help her in any way I can,” Hafiz Hashim, who has signed a two-year contract with the academy, told the Malaysian daily The Star.

Hashim resigned as a coach with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and apart from Sindhu, he will train other Indian badminton players at the academy as well.