Sindhu: Staying injury free will be key amid gruelling schedule

P. V. Sindhu will compete in five tournaments before heading to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.

(From left to right) Ashwini Ponnappa, Sai Praneeth, Jwala Gutta, P. V. Sindhu, K. Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, H. S. Prannoy and Chirag Shetty at the launch of the Grand Prix Badminton League on Saturday.

Injury management will be key as P. V. Sindhu takes on a gruelling tournament schedule over the next two months.

Sindhu will compete in five tournaments - two in Indonesia, two in Malaysia and one in Singapore - before heading to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.

The World No. 7 has exited in the semifinal stage in her last three tournaments - Thailand Open, Badminton Asia Championships and Korea Open. In the Uber Cup team competition held last month, Sindhu recorded two wins and two losses.

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“It’s a tough schedule. I’m hoping to do my best, be in good form and stay injury-free. Superseries events are the immediate short-term goal, and the Commonwealth Games is the main goal. Injury management is a tough thing. To be at 100 percent, we have to take care of our bodies and be mentally and physically fit,” Sindhu said at the launch ceremony of the Grand Prix Badminton League here on Saturday.

On the young talent in the country, the two-time Olympic medallist stated, “There is a bit of a gap (between the established performers and the rest), but there are a few who are doing well. I have seen a couple of them. In the Uber Cup, we saw Aakarshi (Kashyap), Ashmitha (Chaliha) and others. There are a lot of girls who are doing well, but I would say that they need to work hard. It’s not just about doing well for a couple of months or years. They need to do a lot more to get to that level,” Sindhu said.