Sindhu ropes in Anup Sridhar as coach for European swing

Anup has been training the two-time Olympic medallist since the start of September at Hyderabad’s Gachibowli Stadium and will also travel with Sindhu as the former world champion restarts her campaign on the BWF World Tour. The $420,000 Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, from October 8-13 will be her first tournament post the Olympics, following which she will participate at the $850,000 Denmark Open in Odense.

“I got a call from her team. We held discussions and started training from the start of this month. We will see how well it goes. Initially the plan is to see what we can achieve together in the remainder of the season,” Anup, who formerly coached Lakshya Sen, told Hindustan Times.

Following the European swing in October, the season will be left with a few Asian tournaments and three lower-tier competitions in India in November.

“Sindhu is playing at a good level, is confident and ready for the next few tournaments. We have to work on a few things and will assess things with time,” added Anup.

Sindhu has undergone a regular change in coaches in the last Olympic cycle. After helping Sindhu win bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, South Korean coach Park Tae Sang and the five-time World Championship medallist parted ways in early 2023.

After travelling with SAI coach Vidhi Chaudhary for a few months, Sindhu appointed former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim as her new coach. But the partnership didn’t last long as Sindhu switched base to Bengaluru to train under Prakash Padukone.

Padukone’s academy PPBA then brought in Agus Dwi Santoso to guide Sindhu till the Olympics where Sindhu exited in the Round of 16, failing to win a third successive Olympic medal.

“Anup is a good coach, has good reputation and is also an Arjuna awardee. Both of them will assess each other and see how it goes,” Sindhu’s father PV Ramana told Hindustan Times. “This is on a temporary basis. We will take a call on a long-term coach in November after the European season is over.”