File image of Satwiksairaj Rankiredddy and Chirag Shetty.© BAI
Badminton legend and ace shuttler PV Sindhu's mentor, Prakash Padukone believes that India have a strong chance of bagging three medals in badminton in the Paris Olympics including a hat-trick of medals for Sindhu. India has sent a seven-member badminton squad including the high-flying men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and double Olympic medallist Sindhu. Padukone said Sindhu is faring well for her historic third consecutive Olympic medal in Paris.
"That's what we are trying and hoping for. She has worked incredibly hard for that. However, at this level, one cannot commit for sure. Her preparations have gone well, and she is playing well in practice sessions. So, in terms of preparations, everything has been very good," he told JioCinema.
The veteran shuttler, a former All-England champion and World's top player in his heydays elaborated that he is focusing on improving Sindhu's tactics and strategy on the court and she has also improved a lot under his guidance.
"I am focusing on tactics and strategy on the court, on what strokes to use when, and a little to do with the mind. About nine months ago, she was a little low on confidence due to frequent coaching changes and not being able to identify what was going wrong.
"We've worked on her mental strength and strategy, ensuring she makes better use of the right strokes. We've tried to cut down on mistakes and playing percentage badminton — knowing when to attack, defend, and play safe. So it is finally all coming through, but it is yet to be found out whether she can reproduce that form during the Olympics," said Padukone, who runs the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru.
Despite Sindhu failing to win any title so far this year, Padukone feels that her ability to shine in crunch situations will help India's most successful woman sportspersons at the Olympics bring the best out of her. Sindhu is the only Indian woman sportsperson to win two Olympic medals, a silver at Rio in 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo.
"Definitely, she has not been at her best recently, this might reduce the pressure on her. Expectations are lower, and even reaching the quarterfinals will be seen positively. But I am looking beyond that. If she is able to reproduce the form, like what she's doing in practice, I think she'll do better than in past tournaments.
"The difference between players at the top is so little and it is also about handling pressure in the Olympics, and Sindhu has an advantage as she has won two Olympic medals. We keep reminding her to focus on her game, and the result will be good," he said.
In the end, Padukone picked Rankireddy and Shetty in the men's doubles, Sindhu in women's singles and Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy in men's singles as possible medal contenders.
"We have a chance in all three events: men's singles, women's singles and men's doubles. The men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been very consistent and have beaten top players. They also have a fairly good draw.
"Lakshya Sen has a tough group, but he has previously beaten his group opponents Jonatan Christie, Kevin Cordon and Julien Carraggi so it depends on his current form. It's his first Olympics, but he shouldn't be worrying about that and consider this as any other tournament. HS Prannoy has not been in the best form, but sometimes it could be a blessing in disguise as there is little weight of expectations and you might reach the peak now, it can go both ways.
"We are definitely contenders in these three events. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in women's doubles have a challenging draw, but if they can qualify further, that will be icing on the cake," he concluded.
Badminton matches at the Paris Olympics will begin on Saturday (July 27).