There is no competition of the mega event of Olympics, which has become a major concern for many Indian shuttlers and athletes. But Gold medallist PV Sindhu thinks otherwise. She trusts her Korean coach Park Tae Sang, who is preparing her for match-like situations for the Olympics.
The Badminton World Federation has cancelled three Olympic qualifiers that were supposed to be held in India, Malaysia and Singapore due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. These qualifiers were considered to be the last set of events before the Olympics, which is going to be held in July and August 2021.
Speaking about her preparations and whether cancellations are going to affect them or not, she said that since Singapore would have been the last event before the Olympics but since now they are left with no other option but to play matches against different players and her coach would be creating match like situations.
According to her, different players play with different styles, like for instance, Tai Tzu or Ratchanok have adopted different styles, but her coach is there to help her and she is prepared for them.
PV Sindhu is not training with the rest of the Indian Olympic team. Rather, she is training in the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Telangana and doing her fitness training at the Suchitra Academy. The ace Badminton player supported the Federation’s decision of cancelling the events and said that while it was unfortunate that these events could not take place, human life is more important than anything else.
She thinks that even if these tournaments or events happen, we are not sure whether it would be safe because nobody knows from where the virus can come. She further said that organisers take a lot of effort to create bio-bubbles and keep us safe, but we ourselves should also be careful.
The reigning world champion said that it would be really challenging for the organisers and players to follow the Covid-19 protocols in a mega event such as the Olympics and everyone should be prepared for that. She further explained that different countries have different protocol. For instance, in Thailand, players are tested for Covid every 2-3 days, while in England, if a single person tests positive, then the entire contingent is asked to pull out.