Sindhu answers doubters with Japan Open crown: ‘Had tears in my eyes’

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After beating her certified nemesis, Sindhu fell to the floor, and shed tears behind her cupped face. “I had tears in my eyes because it was important for me to win,” she said after the title triumph. “I was really really focusing hard and working hard on myself. I kept believing I could do it. Lot of people were like, what’s happening? Is it (career) done? Or whatever it is. But still, I believed in myself and my family and my coaches supported me.”

For some time now, the top step of the podium had seemed out of reach for Sindhu. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, after being thrashed in the semifinals by Tai Tzu-ying, she had regrouped to beat He Bingjiao and claim bronze. But Sindhu hadn’t beaten Yamaguchi in a completed match since May 2022. Her last title had been a lowly Super 300, 19 months ago. In fact, this was only her third Super750 plus title of her career, given she has more Olympic and World medals than big triumphs on the circuit.

Sindhu stressed the importance of winning a final. “Playing in the final is one thing. But to win, stand on the podium, win that gold is a different thing altogether,” she said.

Against Yamaguchi, Sindhu deployed all her power, strength and speed as well as defensive stubbornness. Yamaguchi was heart-broken after the loss. “I am so so upset, I tried to make points from my defence, but her attack was very good. She was so aggressive, the smash so strong…,” the Japanese player said, walking away dejected as the home crowd went silent.

It took Indonesian coach Irwansyah to drag Sindhu out of the defensive zone she had got into after the 2019 world title. Six coaches in the last seven years had come and gone, unable to rewind her attacking instinct completely.

While accepting wishes from celebrities and politicians, Sindhu did not forget to thank her husband Venkata Datta Sai, a sports geek, data specialist and first cheerleader who, she tweeted, had taken on the onerous task of “rebuilding her team”.

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Coach Irwansyah made tactical changes — smoothing her movement, sharpening her defence-to-offence transitions, using the net for follow-up kills, activating the drop shots to ease over-reliance on smashes — to give her confidence.

Sindhu also brought in fitness maestro Wayne Lombard, a South African who watched the final on a stream, from his hospital bed while recovering from surgery. The biokinetics PhD holder has worked with India’s boxing and hockey teams. For Sindhu, he designed programmes to primarily increase her strength.

Her circle of backers had stood by her decision to attempt a third Olympic medal, even as others from her generation like Carolina Marin, He Bingjiao and Tai Tzu-ying had retired, brought down by injuries. “I want to thank both sets of families this time. My parents and in-laws and most importantly my husband.They were always there through my lows. People around me have guided me very well,” she said.

Sindhu also shared that she had worked on staying calm — probably the main reason why previous finals had been fluffed when she got agitated. “Sometimes when leading you want to finish rallies quicker, you tend to make simple unforced errors. But the coach said, ‘It’s OK, focus on the next point’. I let go of what happened, and focused on the next point. That made a difference,” she said.