PV Sindhu: Taking fresh guard for glory and building future champions

It’s not easy to be P.V. Sindhu. Come 18 August, and the former world champion and double Olympic medallist will be carrying India’s medal hopes in singles as the ninth seed at the BWF World Championships in the capital. Meanwhile, in another part of the country, she and her husband are chasing a dream of creating a pathway to sporting glory for young and aspiring sportspersons.

Just in case the news flew under the radar, Sindhu took to social media on 5 August to announce the ambitious P.V. Sindhu Centre for Sports Excellence in Visakhapatnam — a multi-discipline centre that aims to serve nine disciplines. The academy, which promises to be among the largest privately owned initiatives of its kind, alongside those of Pullela Gopichand in Hyderabad and Prakash Padukone in Bengaluru, is targeted for completion by May 2028.

Outlining her vision on social media, Sindhu said of the project: "A dream years in the making and one that I hope will grow to become far bigger than my own journey. Sport has given me everything. It gave a little girl with a racquet the courage to dream, took me to World Championships and Olympic podiums, and gave me the incredible privilege of representing India on the biggest stages in the world. Now, I want to give some of that back."

Interestingly, the 31-year-old Sindhu has taken the plunge while actively pursuing her career, with a final flourish at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics very much a possibility. This is quite a departure from Prakash Padukone’s own venture, which came up in the mid-1990s after his retirement, while Gopichand’s famous academy — where Saina Nehwal and Sindhu took their first steps, along with several other decorated names — got going in 2008, five years after his retirement in 2003.

As a resurgent Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the Japan Open last month, stays focused on the demands of the tour, it is her husband Venkata Datta Sai who has held the backend together for their dream project.

Speaking to National Herald over the phone, Sai, a Hyderabad-based entrepreneur, said: "The paperwork for the land from the Andhra Pradesh government was completed in 2023. It’s coming up over 300,000 sq. feet, with the state-of-the-art gym alone taking up 12,000 sq. feet. I had actually asked Sindhu if she would take the plunge right in the middle of her career, but she felt that it was the right time to start building the infrastructure for the upcoming generation."

While the badminton academy will understandably be the cornerstone of the project, there will be nine disciplines in all, with swimming, football, basketball, volleyball, a high-performance chess centre, shooting, table tennis and weightlifting making up the rest.

"Each of these centres will be under separate mentors and local coaches, as we don’t claim to be even jack of all trades. While talks are on to bring in experts in each field, Sharath Kamal has agreed to look after table tennis, while Sindhu’s father P.V. Ramana — a member of the 1986 Asian Games bronze medal-winning volleyball team — will head the volleyball operations," Sai revealed.

The hunt for commercial partnerships for the project has begun, while a candid Sai admitted that they have sunk a "huge amount" of their own earnings into it. Sindhu, meanwhile, says in her post: "I want every young athlete who walks through these doors to believe that where they come from should never decide how far they can go. And we cannot build this dream alone. To corporate India, CSR leaders, sporting organisations and everyone who believes in the future of Indian sport: come build this with us.

"I have been fortunate to win medals for India. Perhaps the greatest legacy I can leave behind is helping the next generation win many more," said the ace before she gets down to business for the demanding twin assignments of the Worlds and then the Asian Games in September-October.

India first-round draw

Men's singles

Lakshya Sen (14) vs Collins Valentine Filimon (Austria)

Ayush Shetty vs Shi Yu Qi (China, 1)

Women's singles

P.V. Sindhu (9) vs Sophia Noble (Ireland)

Unnati Hooda vs Thet Htar Thuzar (Myanmar)

Men's doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (5) — Bye

Hariharan Amsakarunan/M.R. Arjun vs Scott Guildea/Paul Reynolds (Ireland)

Women's doubles

Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela vs Paula Lopez/Lucia Rodriguez (Spain)

Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi vs Nikol Carulla/Carmen Maria Jimenez (Spain)

Mixed doubles

Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (15) — Bye

Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde vs Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai/Crystal Lai (Canada)