The Hindu Saturday, Jun 18, 2011 Sindhu, a Saina in the making Stan Rayan KOCHI: As she warms up on court, stretching her long limbs, you get a feeling that P.V. Sindhu is in the wrong sport. She's just 15 but she's already 5'11, and still growing. She would have been a blessing for Indian basketball, but instead of aiming at the ho op, the young girl decided to chase ‘birds' very early in life. And she's proving to be a big blessing for badminton. Sindhu, the junior National champion from Secunderabad, won her maiden international women's title at the Maldives Challenge last week. And on Thursday, her women's world ranking shot up by 58 spots — from the previous week's 203 to 145. But she's made for bigger things, says Thomas John, a former British coach who had coached Gopi Chand, in England, and Saina Nehwal earlier. “Sindhu could be a bigger force than Saina. She has good height, good temperament and she's not flustered when she's playing anybody,” said the Indian-born Thomas, at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Friday. Six years ago, Thomas had predicted that Saina — then just 15 — would be a bigger star than Gopi Chand. He had said that the young girl, who was just beginning to make it on the senior national stage, would be a world-beater. And now, he has bet it big on Sindhu. “She's just 15 but she's already beginning to make a mark in the women's circuit. Age is just a number in her case,” said Thomas, who is now coaching youngsters in Lucknow. Thomas had coached Sindhu, along with Saina, at Gopi Chand's Academy in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, for about two years. “She was around 12 and a wispy little girl then,” said Thomas. “I used to take her for tournaments. Sometimes, she used to literally collapse in exhaustion.” But now Sindhu is a lot stronger and brimming with confidence too. Big dream “I want to be the World No. 1 one day,” said the young girl, the women's singles bronze medalist at the Indian Grand Prix in Hyderabad in December. “Saina is a powerhouse, bursting with energy,” said Thomas. “Sindhu is more wily; she's more like the Aparna Popat type of player.” Along with a wonderful reach, her tall frame also offers her a huge advantage, especially when it comes to smashes which can come from a very steep angle. But some feel her height could be a disadvantage while diving and while handling drops. In her genes “Height is a handicap if you do not work on certain areas,” explained Thomas. “Sindhu can be very strong as she grows up. She has got it in her genes.” Her parents were both volleyball players. Her dad, international P.V. Ramana, was a centre-blocker in the Indian team — a side which included the great Jimmy George — which won the Asian Games bronze in Seoul in 1986, the country's last medal in the sport at the Games. And her mother Vijaya who studied at Chennai's Vaishnav College, is a former Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh star. So how does it feel for a 15-year-old to be in a women's world? “When I play tournaments, I go with a free mind,” said Sindhu, a former Asian junior (under-16) bronze medallist. “Whenever I play a seeded girl, I don't think I'm going to lose. I just see that I play my best.” That positive attitude saw her trouble many players in the World's top 50, including two on her way to the Maldives title. Sindhu needs to work on her leg strength and on her defence. And there will be plenty of hurdles before her. Thankfully, age is on her side. Full story: http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/18/stories/2011061856631800.htm
Full name: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu Date of Birth: July 5, 1995 Height: 5'10" (1.78 m) Current BWF ranking: 145
P V Sindhu at the recently concluded all-India Junior ranking tournament. Pictured here with the Under-19 and the Under-17 boy's winners. Sindhu won the Under-17 and the Under-19 singles titles, as well as the Under-17 doubles title.
"No tall claim" Full story: http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/no-tall-claim-the-badminton-circuit-has-a-new-star-24639.html Some excerpts: "Sindhu was just finding her feet on the badminton circuit that year and has followed in Saina’s footsteps in dominating the age group tournaments in India even before she was 15. She, in fact, went a step further by finishing fifth in the World Junior championship in Mexico in March 2010 and then reached the quarterfinals of the Asian Badminton Championship in New Delhi. She also qualified for the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore last year, but was left out since she was under-age. "But the triumph in Male, (the Maldives International Challenge, June 11) where she defeated world number 43 Marin Carolina of Spain and world number 52 Agnese Allegrini of Italy enroute to the final, should give her the confidence to start taking giant strides towards stardom."
Height is obviously an advantage in badminton. Exception are Susi (my all time favorite player) and Gong ZC. XXF, with her long limbs takes 2 steps to cover the court so even though she does not have Susi/Gong speed, she is very seldom out of position and was very successful in her baddy career. In WC2005, XXF played CSC (Taiwan), she made CSC ran all over the court. Same thing ZN did to PHY. Vertically challenged players have more work to become great players. Genetically blessed tall player does has advantage. Sindhu is only 15, give chance lah... The same can be said of Axelson, only 17, give chance lah-too
Mia Audina is not exactly a tall girl and she was twice an Olympic silver medalist. on the other hand, Misbun Sidek is quite tall himself, says no more.
if u dont care i am not impressed then dont waste ur precious time to reply me hehe by the way so far those youngster which i mentioned to be good,had shine in senior circuit ratchanok,tai tzuying,mitani minatsu lol skill and footwork not too smooth i would say
Sindhu just helped India get past Chinese Taipei and into the semi-finals of the Asian Youth Under-19 Team Championships; she beat Wan Yi Tang 21-17, 21-13
sindhu is in the semi final of ajc , well done where is the non impress guy? that guy is really a fool and idiot he really think he is a coach or what? silly guy
Yup, she can accompany Ratchanok. Hopefully, Taiwan Tai will join the 'gang' when she is able to train full time
Sindhu is the only non-China WS player through to the semis. The other 3 are all (non seeded) China players! I think this really demonstrates the depth that China possess especially in the WS game. They have 3 basically untested players come up out of nowhere and walk into the semis, beating other "seeded" players along the way... Lets see if Sindhu can stop them... She's up next against another tall player, Sun Yu in the semis.
We also have talked abt Sindhu in here, http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/99320-Asian-Junior-championship/page7 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/99320-Asian-Junior-championship/page8 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/99320-Asian-Junior-championship/page9
She's already there! On another note: I noticed that she played her singles game on the 7th at 5:40 pm, (went to rubber) and then the doubles game against China at 7:40 pm, which she lost very quickly. If BAI want her to progress, they realy have to stop entering her for singles as well as doubles. They need to allow her to develop one style to really fulfill her potential.
Pssts, WJC, currently running is AJC, without Ratchanok present. In any case, Sindhu's a player to watch