Can PV Sindhu, the big-tournament player, turn up?

The Indian star hasn’t had the best of years but the world championships usually see PV Sindhu find a higher gear

It is that time of the year again when PV Sindhu unleashes her most destructive avatar. The 28-year-old has a special relationship with the BWF World Championships, an event, which along with the Olympic Games, has earned her the title of a ‘big tournament player’.

The annual showpiece, being held in Copenhagen for an unprecedented fifth time, has made the tall and lanky shuttler from Hyderabad an international badminton icon revered as one of only two women’s singles shuttlers (apart from China’s Zhang Ning) to have won five or more medals at the Grade 1 tournament.

Many a time, Sindhu has gone an entire year suffering loss of form, not winning medals or trophies. But come the World Championships, the two-time Olympic medallist transforms into a phoenix to rise from the ashes and reach the rostrum. From 2013 to 2021, Sindhu displayed an incredible run, not witnessed often especially in Indian sport, where she medalled at every individual badminton major, barring once in 2015.

The streak cemented her position in the creme de la crème of international badminton. Last year too Sindhu was looking good for the Worlds, experiencing one of her finest seasons to end a 29-month title drought. She clinched four titles – Syed Modi International, Swiss Open, Singapore Open and the Commonwealth Games gold – apart from an Asian Championships bronze.

But the gold in Birmingham came at a cost, a left foot stress fracture that made Sindhu miss the World Championships for the first time in her career, putting her out of action for half-a-year.

Her return to the circuit this year has been below par to say the least, way beneath the standards the former world champion is used to. In 14 individual tournaments this year, Sindhu has exited in the first two rounds nine times. Twice she made the quarters, twice semis and only once the final at the Spain Masters in April.

Her ranking plunged too. The once world No.2 dropped out of the top 10 in March, the first time it happened since November 2016. She had slipped to No.17 in July until she rose back to No.15 following a semi-final and two quarter-final appearances.

With a new coach, former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, Sindhu will be hoping for a turnaround. But it isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

The emergence of youngsters like An Se Young, Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao has completely upended the old order. Now, experienced campaigners like Tai Tzu Ying, Carolina Marin, Ratchanok Intanon are the chasers, who have often been toyed by the young crop in multiple tournaments in the past couple of years.

Though she has an opening round bye, the 16th seed will likely run into former world champion and rival Nozomi Okuhara in Round 2 against whom Sindhu played two World Championship finals, losing heartbreakingly in 2017 but winning in 2019.

With her game known to her rivals, Sindhu will have to dig deep, think out of the box to outwit these names and emerge at the forefront. The Indian has done it in the past. But this time it will be a matter of confidence, belief and form that she has lacked of late. But can the World Championships provide that spark, a tournament she made her own in the past?

Chance for Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag

More than anyone else, Copenhagen 2023 will be HS Prannoy’s best chance to convert his form into a medal. Among the biggest underachievers in the sport, Prannoy has been in sensational form of late, reaching two finals this season, winning one. The Thomas Cup champion has a brilliant chance of extending India’s streak of returning with at least one medal from every World Championships since 2011.

After struggling for almost a year, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen is also beginning to show glimpses of his best, especially after clinching the Canada Open last month.

India’s top doubles combine Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty unquestionably present the best chance for the Indian contingent to return with a medal from Denmark.

Seeded second, the world No.2 pairing became the first men’s doubles pair from India to win a Worlds medal last year when they claimed a bronze. They have been in unbelievable form this year, winning the Swiss Open, Indonesia Open and Korea Open. Having been crowned the Asian champions – at times considered the toughest competition in the circuit, who will bet against them becoming India’s first doubles world champions?

With Thanks Reference to: https://www.hindustantimes.com/sports/badminton/can-pv-sindhu-the-big-tournament-player-turn-up-101692550548510.html