NEW DELHI: Irwansyah Adi Pratama knows a thing or two about delivering under pressure. Having been the men’s singles coach of Indonesia, where badminton is the most popular and de facto national sport, Irwansyah is not unfamiliar with the demands of the fans and the federation.
After guiding Jonatan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to major titles and Olympic medals, Irwansyah has taken over the mantle of guiding India’s PV Sindhu back to the zenith of women’s singles badminton.
It’s only been a week-and-a-half, but Sindhu is listening to the Indonesian’s advice, during practice and her matches at the $950,000 India Open here, knowing that Irwansyah can change her fortunes in the new Olympic cycle.
“I do believe Sindhu can reach the top again. That’s the reason I’m here,” said Irwansyah, who is training the former world champion in Bengaluru and will travel with her for tournaments abroad.
“Training has been going well but it’s only been a week or so. Both of us need time to adapt. My plan is to make Sindhu an even more attacking player. She is naturally an attacking player, but I want her to have more speed and power because that game suits her. I just want her to push herself and build herself up again because I believe she can do it. She can go very high, even higher than before.”
After winning four titles in 2022, the two-time Olympic medallist suffered a knee injury which kept her off the circuit for five months. But her return wasn’t as successful as the five-time World Championship medallist suffered multiple early round exits in 2023 with only one final to boast of – Spain Masters – before an ankle injury again pushed Sindhu off the circuit for another five months.
The Hyderabadi also dropped out of the world’s top 10 in 2023 for the first time since 2016, a position she hasn’t been able to reclaim with her current ranking at No.16.
Sindhu fared better in 2024, reaching the Malaysia Masters final and more quarter-finals and semi-finals, but she was nowhere close to her best when she would beat the best in the business at will.
The former world champion finally ended a 28-month title drought last month when she clinched the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow, a Super 300 event which had no top players and where Sindhu was seeded No.1.
“I will give my best. I want to change her game to be more aggressive. Most of my career I have trained men’s singles. I want to bring that to women’s singles. Sindhu is a fit player but we will enhance that and will be working on her fitness with the strength conditioning coach, focusing on nutrition as well as physiotherapy,” said Irwansyah.
“I know Sindhu is 29 but it is not about age. What is important is how she manages to stay disciplined, what she eats, how she rests followed by good training. Every player goes through this situation.”
Irwansyah, who quit the Indonesian federation in December after guiding Christie to the Asian Championship gold and the All England crown last year, also wants to make sure that Sindhu doesn’t forget to have fun on court and not worry about results and consequences. And this he wants to tell her as a friend, not as a coach.
“It is important that she enjoys the game. If she does, then it helps her confidence. It will make Sindhu believe in herself again. When I’m coaching, it is not just about the training, it is also about how we connect with the player, it is for her improvement. It shouldn’t always be just about the programme. We have to respect each other. Then the player also enjoys training sessions,” concluded Irwansyah.
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