Along with the new year, fans of Indian will be hoping new fortunes are on the way for star shuttler PV Sindhu. After years of sustained excellence, the Arjuna Award holder had a disappointing 2023 as she returned from injury early in the year but never appeared to fully recover her form.
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2023 began with three consecutive first round exits; in the Malaysia Open, India Open and All England Open. Sindhu reached the final of the Swiss Masters and the semi-final of the Malaysia Masters, but that was as good as it got as she ended the year without a single title to her name.
In the latest women's singles rankings, Sindhu also slipped to 11th and will be hoping to climb back up with a fresh start in 2024.
Who is PV Sindhu's coach?
On Monday, January 8, Sindhu announced that she had begun training with a new coach; Indonesian Agus Dwi Santoso. Santoso has worked with several national teams, including India. He was in charge of the Indian singles players in 2020 and 2021, working with the likes of Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth.
Sindhu has worked with Santoso before, when he headed a camp for Indian players ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The coach's CV includes training the likes of World Championships medallist Sony Dwi Koncoro, and helping Korean shuttler Son Wan-ho to reach the world no.1 ranking. Santoso also coached Kantaphon Wangcharoen to become the first Thai player to win a World Championship medal in the men's singles event.
MORE: What is PV Sindhu's record in 2023?
This is the second change in six months, as far as coaching personnel is concerned for Sindhu. In July 2023, she had started working with Muhammad Hafiz Hashim after splitting from her former coach Park Tae-Sang. However, with results not up to scratch in the second half of the year either, another change has taken place.
Sindhu is currently on the road to recovery from an injury sustained in the French Open in October. Her primary focus for 2024 is likely to be the Olympics in Paris, for which Sindhu should be one of India's direct entrants.
MORE: How did PV Sindhu perform in World Championships?
