Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama aims to not just tweak PV Sindhu's technique and fine-tune her skills but also reignite the fire within her, believing that, with added speed and power, she can regain her lost glory and surpass her previous achievements.
Irwansyah, who has been recently roped in by Badminton Association of India (BAI) to train women's singles players, was courtside when Sindhu overcame rustiness to reach the second round of the India Open Super 750 tournament, defeating world No. 24 Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 22-20 on Tuesday.
“Every player has been through something like this. What I've learned, I want to pass on to her. I'll try my best. I believe she can still do it. She can come back and reach an even higher level than before. I do believe in it. That's the reason I'm here,” Irwansyah, a former long-term head coach of the Indonesian men's singles team, told PTI.
“My plan is to make her more of an attacking player. She has all the right qualities, so I just want to build on that and push her further. I want to change her game to be more aggressive — more speed and power.”
It has been a challenging two years for Sindhu, who broke a title drought by winning the Syed Modi Super 300 crown last December. After clinching the 2022 Singapore Open and Commonwealth Games titles, she faced a setback with a stress fracture.
Although she recovered and reached the final at the 2023 Spain Masters, a knee injury in October hampered her progress. She returned to action in February, reaching the final of the Malaysia Masters Super 500, but was unable to secure a title.
“I want to help her enjoy herself more on the court. It's important that she enjoys it because when she enjoys it, she'll become more confident. That's the main focus right now — working hard to get her to believe in herself again,” Irwansyah said.
“After everything, the last two years have been tough — injuries, maybe... It's really about confidence. I'm doing my best to help her believe in what she has. She has a lot of potential.”
Sindhu might be in the final phase of her career but Irwansyah emphasised it is about discipline and success has nothing to do with age.
“It's not about age. What's important is how she manages discipline, what she eats, how she rests, and doing the right training. And with the whole team in place — strength and conditioning coach, nutrition, physio, and me — it will happen.”
Sindhu, who achieved remarkable success, including a silver medal at the Rio Olympics under Pullela Gopichand, later partnered with Korea's Kim Ji Hyun to win the 2019 World Championships and claimed another silver at the Tokyo Olympics with coach Park Tae-Sang.
She also trained under Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim and briefly with SAI coach Vidhi Choudhary. Additionally, she worked with Indonesian legend Agus Dwi Santoso and received guidance from Prakash Padukone in preparation for the Paris Olympics, before being coached by Anup Sridhar and Korean Lee Hyun-il until December.
Irwansyah, who is credited for the rise of former Asian champion Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and reigning All England champion Jonatan Christie, believes that coaching goes beyond just training and involves building a strong bond with the player.
“I do believe that when I coach, it's not just about the training. It's also about how we connect with the player, and that's important for improvement.
“It's not just about giving a program, but about how we respect each other. The player should enjoy the training sessions as well. That's something I want to focus on too.”
Irwansyah will be training the new generation of women's singles players, including Sindhu, who has worked with multiple coaches but has faced a tough couple of seasons, including a medal-less Olympic campaign.
“It's just a little over a week since I arrived in the country to take up the job. It has been just a week, I landed last Monday.”
“Right now I'm working with Sindhu, but I think we'll start focusing on the others after the Indonesia Open. Also, during our last training, some of the men's singles players were there as well. The training was good, but it was only for one week.”
