Gopichand happy with PV Sindhu’s path to Tokyo, calls world champion a ‘favourite’

Despite a mixed start to her Olympic year, the chief coach of the Indian badminton team, Pullela Gopichand, believes that PV Sindhu will be one of the favourites at Tokyo Olympics.

The Olympic silver medallist from Rio 2016 was off to a tough start in 2021 as she failed to make it past the quarter-finals in the two Thailand Open events and then bowed out of the group stages at the BWF World Tour Finals.

But the 25-year-old PV Sindhu gained some form in her recent outings, making it to the final at the Swiss Open and a semi-final appearance at the All England Open earlier this month.

But despite the topsy-turvy run, the national coach is confident of PV Sindhu hitting her peak in time for Tokyo 2020.

“She was a bit rusty in the initial matches, but not all players will come back after 10 months without tournaments and straightaway win them,” Pullela Gopichand told

The Week, adding that Sindhu _“_will be back to her normal self in the coming months.”

“Going into (Rio) Olympics or the earlier world championships, Sindhu was not one of the favourites. This time around, in Tokyo, she will definitely be one of the favourites,”

.“I am sure the experience of winning at big events will definitely help. Having said that, we still have challenges from many players and countries. It is the Olympics; it will be tough. She is prepared for it and has the ability.”

The Indian ace has been training under South Korean coach Park Tae Sang for a while. She has moved out of the famed Gopichand academy and has been preparing at the nearby Gachibowli stadium. Gopichand believes that the results will come soon.

“He is an able coach and I am happy with the training. Park has made her programme; they have sparring partners and players helping her,” Gopichand said.

With the world still reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic, international badminton has taken a hit with shuttlers from nations like Japan and Indonesia missing a few competitions this year. The Chinese, meanwhile, are yet to compete in an international event so far.

But despite the depleted field, Pullela Gopichand believed that the events nevertheless tested the Indian badminton players.

“Of course, the Chinese not playing depletes the field. But I think these are still formidable competitions,” he opined. 

“I feel, like other sports, badminton is trying to get back as quickly as possible. Yes, there are challenges, but it is good to go ahead and the players are also supporting these efforts.”