Veteran badminton player and mentor of top shuttler PV Sindhu, Prakash Padukone, believes that India has a strong chance of winning three medals in badminton at the Paris Olympics and this includes a hat-trick of medals for Sindhu. India has sent a seven-member badminton team which includes the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and two Olympic medalists Sindhu. Padukone said that Sindhu is working hard for her third consecutive Olympic medal in Paris and is expected to perform well.
He said, 'We are trying and hoping for good practice. Sindhu has worked incredibly hard for the Olympics. However, nothing can be certain or committed at this stage. Her preparations are going well and she is playing well in the practice sessions. So everything has been very good in terms of preparations.'
Prakash, a veteran shuttler, former All-England champion, and world number one in his heydays, said he is focusing on improving Sindhu's strategy on the court and she has also improved a lot under his guidance. Prakash said, "I am focusing on improving the strategy on the court. On when Sindhu has to use which stroke and how to play with the mind. About nine months ago she was a bit low in confidence due to frequent coaching changes and was not able to identify what was going wrong with her." Prakash said, "We have worked on her mental strength and strategy and ensured that she uses the right stroke better. We have tried to cut down on mistakes and play percentage badminton. Knowing when to attack the opponent player or when to defend and play safe. Everything is being taken care of, but it is yet to be ascertained whether she can repeat that form during the Olympics." Despite Sindhu's failure to win any title so far this year, Prakash feels her ability to shine in difficult situations and being India's most successful female player at the Olympics will help her perform at her best. Sindhu is the only Indian woman to win two Olympic medals, a silver in Rio in 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo.
Prakash said, "She is not in her best form recently. However, this may reduce the pressure on her. The expectations are low and even reaching the quarter-finals will be seen positively. But I see her beyond that. If she can regain the form and present it on the court, like what she is doing in practice, then I think she will do better than in previous tournaments." He said, "The gap between the top-ranked players is very small and this is also an important way to deal with pressure in the Olympics. Sindhu also benefits from this as she has won two Olympic medals. We keep reminding them to focus on their game and the result will be good. Apart from Sindhu, Prakash picked the Satwik-Chirag pair in men's doubles and Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy in men's singles as potential medal contenders.
Prakash said, 'We have a chance to win medals in all three events. We can win medals in men's singles, women's singles, and men's doubles. The men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been very brilliant and have defeated top players. They also have a pretty good draw. Lakshya Sen has a tough draw, but he has defeated his opponents Jonathan Christie, Kevin Cordon, and Julian Caraggi in the past. So it depends on his current form. This is his first Olympics, but he should not worry about it and take it as any other tournament. HS Prannoy has not been in the best form, but sometimes it can be a blessing because expectations have a little weight and you can peak now, it can go both ways.'
He said, 'We are contenders in all these three competitions. In women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto have a challenging draw, but if they qualify further, it will be easy.' Badminton matches will start on Saturday (July 27) in the Paris Olympics. India has won a total of three Olympic medals in badminton so far. Apart from Sindhu's two medals, India won bronze in the 2012 London Olympics. Saina Nehwal had won the medal then.
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