Challenges ahead of Arjuna awardee PV Sindhu

The Indian badminton sensation PV Sindhu was recently honoured with Arjuna Award for her achievements on the court. Sindhu won the bronze in the World Badminton Championships and led her team to the final of Indian Badminton League. The Hyderabad shuttler looks good to achieve more glory on the court. However, there are some challenges that Sindhu must work on to fine tune her rough edges and excel on the badminton court. Complacency: Sindhu came into the IBL after the success of winning the bronze in World Badminton Championships. She defeated some big names such as China’s Yihan Wang and Shixian Wang en route to the semifinals. However, she was quickly brought down to earth by Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand and then later by Saina Nehwal in the IBL. Her open challenge to Saina before the IBL was juvenile and lacked maturity, although it did spiked interest in the clash between these two players. However, if Sindu wants to become a world beater, she should stay away from such gimmicks and concentrate on her game. She should not let a few wins against higher-ranked players put her on such a high that she finds it difficult to get down. She can take a leaf out of Saina’s books. Saina has shown immense maturity dealing with such situations and deserves all the success she has achieved. Being just an 18-year-old, Sindhu would have learnt a lot by the IBL experience and would do well to keep off-the-court distractions at bay. Fitness: Sindhu may not realise, but fitness could be an issue for her. Being a teenager, she will be ready to go that extra mile to achieve what she wants. However, she should learn to listen to her body and know where to call it a stop. An injury early in one’s career can stop the growth of a player. Sindhu should be careful in her fitness regime and pay heed to her instructor’s advice diligently. Distractions: Now that Sindhu has made a name for herself in the badminton court, money and fame will chase her. And it can be like a double-edged sword. It’s easy to get distracted in the big world of being a celebrity sportsperson. She should keep herself grounded and stay true to her roots. She could also learn from the way Indian cricketing greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni have handled themselves off the field. If Sindhu can keep these things in mind and work on it, she’ll sure scale more success in her badminton career.