I Need to 'Tune Up' My Skills and Also Learn New Weapons: PV Sindhu

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu said on Tuesday that she needs to “tune up” her skills and learn new weapons in every tournament she plays this season. The ace shuttler added that it’s important for her to keep changing strategies against every player.

“I need to tune up my skills and also learn new weapons; I think everybody is going to read your game. It’s very important that you keep changing strategies every single time when you play with a particular player. Nowadays, they watch your matches; previous matches and they know what needs to be done. So we need to strategise accordingly,” she said after registering a straight-game victory against Sri Krishna Priya in the first round of the India Open 2022 here on Tuesday.

Asked about the schedule this season, she said, “We have a very busy schedule so it’s important for me to stay fit and also make sure every time I go to the court (I) give 100 per cent and also be injury-free.

“From January to December there are a lot of tournaments. As a player, we pick and choose tournaments as we have to be sure that we are physically and mentally fit, so that we will give our 100 per cent when we play in any event. But, yes, there is a long stretch. Back-to-back world championships, and this year we also have the Commonwealth and Asian Games. For me, I have to stay injury-free and make sure that I train harder and be fit for these events.”

On her opening-round match on Tuesday, Sindhu said, “Always, the first match is important. I went with the flow, maintained the lead and finished it off.”

However, she has a word of advice for Sri Krishna Priya and many younger players, “I think it’s definitely a lot of things to be worked on, because when it comes to skills and when it comes to physical fitness, I think she needs to be much stronger and skill-wise she needs to improve a lot, not against me but higher standards.”

On whether she had any specific strategy before entering the court on Tuesday, the 26-year-old said, “It depends, as I mentioned, it changes with every player. Sometimes during the match, I realise that I have to be consistent with my rallies. Everybody knows that my weapon is attack. So like my opponent won’t make me play my game. They won’t give me space to attack. So I have to play defensive at times, and I will have to make sure I will be perfect on that. Not just play one type of game.”