PV Sindhu will return sharper at the World Championships, says Olympian Vimal Kumar
The former India national coach analyses Sindhu's run at the World Tour Finals 2021
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was denied a second BWF World Tour Finals title as she went down 16-21, 12-21 to South Korea's An Se-young in the summit clash of the 2021 edition in Bali, Indonesia on Sunday.
It was, however, a morale boosting performance for the ace Indian shuttler as she registered her best performance after Tokyo 2020 by claiming second. Sindhu had earlier reached the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open and finished third at the French Open, Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open.
Olympian-turned-coach Vimal Kumar believes that this experience will help Sindhu come back sharper for the World Championships, slated to get underway from December 12 in Huelva, Spain.
"We need to see in other conditions. PV Sindhu beating (Akane) Yamaguchi in the semi-finals was definitely a confidence booster because off-late she has not really been into her rhythm. Hopefully, by World Championships next week, we can see her play little sharper," Kumar told Olympics.com.
Sindhu, meanwhile, looked out-of-sorts in the summit clash as some weak backhand lifts and poor smashes littered her game.
"I am little concerned. She needs to adapt a different strategy against her to beat her (Pornpawee Chochuwong). Because in the World Championship she will be running into her at some stage," Kumar said.
Moreover, the loss meant that the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist, has failed to overcome the threat from the South Korean teenager thrice in as many occasions.
Kumar highlighted that it was the slow-paced game and the conditions of the shuttle that favoured the South Korean.
"I thought if you look at the conditions, in the last three weeks the shuttlecocks were extremely slow, which suits An Seyoung's game and Akane Yamaguchi's too to a certain extent," Kumar, who represented India at Barcelona 1992, said.
"In my opinion that was a big plus factor for An Seyoung in the final and she likes to play those deep clears, slow drop shots, she gets you into her rhythm. PV Sindhu couldn't keep it going and it turned out to be a very slow-paced game. In all the three tournaments in Bali, she won, with the same strategy," he concluded.