Tokyo 2020: Faster and stronger, PV Sindhu is now a grizzled veteran with a mind of her own

When Michael Phelps elder sister Hillary visited India in 2015, she had spoken about how the childhood coach of the world’s most decorated swimmer had predicted that the boy would qualify for his first Olympics in 2004, make a mark in 2008 and be at his peak in 2012. But he managed to reach all those landmarks four earlier.

A similar prediction was being made for PV Sindhu during the same period as 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was still the top star of Indian badminton and experts felt that the trip to Rio Olympics was the perfect exposure opportunity for the understudy before she could challenge for a medal four years later.

Despite winning back-to-back World Championships bronze medals in 2013 and 2014, Sindhu wasn’t considered to be a top contender for 2016 either and her indifferent form in the run-up to the Games was enough to make her one of the underdogs.

In fact, after her first-round loss in the Australian Open in June 2016, coach Pullela Gopichand was so worried that he put Sindhu on a strict fitness routine, took away her mobile phone, made her shout her guts out in front of the entire academy group to try and push…

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