PV Sindhu must give more attention to recovery between matches to win Tokyo medal: Vimal Kumar
PV Sindhu in action against Japan s Akane Yamaguchi at the 2021 All England Open
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
World champion PV Sindhu remains India s best Olympic medal prospect but she has to give more attention to her recovery process between matches to achieve the feat at the Tokyo Games, according to former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar.
Sindhu didn t have a good outing in the three events in Thailand in January and even though she reached the finals at Swiss Open and the semifinals at All England, she suffered demoralising losses to Olympic champion Carolina Marin and Thailand s Pornpawee Chochuwong respectively.
Getting the shot: Possible vaccine fast-track for Tokyo athletes raises questions of ethics
Neeraj Chopra in action.
Last week the union ministry for youth affairs and sports formally requested the health ministry to add India s Tokyo-bound Olympic athletes, coaches and support staff to the priority category of those being administered the COVID-19 vaccines. It followed a similar request by the Indian Olympic Association. The sports ministry says it has already chalked out a blueprint for the two-phase vaccination drive for athletes, which will tentatively begin in March if cleared. So far, 77 Indian athletes (including two teams) have qualified/won quota places for the July Games and the final number is likely to cross 100. While the news in itself - getting Olympics-bound athletes vaccinated - sounds like a good move, it does raise a few questions.