PV Sindhu’s challenge: Juggling tricks against Tai Tzu Ying juggernaut

The trend of six straight losses might look like the permanent turning of the tide and no way back for the Indian, but once every often, Sindhu muscles her way through the Tai Tzu dazzle, nicking an opening set here, pushing a decider there, and you wonder whether it’s indeed a slide that can’t be stemmed. There remains no doubt that neither Sindhu’s aggressive all-out approach going down in a blaze, nor coach Park’s strategy, works against Tai Tzu. The Indian last beat her in arguably her best match ever at the World’s in 2019.

Friday’s quarterfinal loss in Malaysia, where Sindhu set the ascendancy opening with 21-13, and was completely outplayed 21-13 in the decider, with Tai Tzu taking the mid-set 21-15, points to the Indian’s fights in vain against an opponent who is costing her the big-occasion finals she was known for. At Axiata, it was a Super 750 title – part of Sindhu’s plans of dominating the circuit events and gunning for consistency. As things stand, Tai Tzu will stop her be it on the Tour or at the biggies. There’s no way around the Olympic silver medallist, and there’s only so much of marvelling at her wizardry that you can carry on, without noticing that the rabbit being pulled out of the magician’s hat is Sindhu. They call them bunny in sports.

Tough luck @Pvsindhu1, well fought 🙌#MalaysiaOpen2022#Badminton pic.twitter.com/7K7FpH9s2E

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 1, 2022

But a quick recap of Friday: Sindhu correctly reads the drift from the favourable side and pins Tai back, forcing her to drive hard from baseline on her backhand. Playing high tosses is the only solution or shuttles get dumped into the net. Tai Tzu’s flick-tosses hover tantalisingly and are used to smash as the Indian takes the opener.

She’s at the receiving end of the two-paced drift in the second, trailing 2-10, and the Taiwanese starts nailing her cross-net shots when Sindhu attempts a dribble. The crisp angles are outrageous even if a temporary lull, with errors raining down from Tai, teases Sindhu into believing she could wrap this in two as she reaches 13-17. But the switch flicked back on, Tai Tzu stubs those delusions.

In the decider, Sindhu’s Plan A to hoard points from the favourable side crumbles. She either has no Plan B thereafter (and Tai Tzu doesn’t do two slumbers in one match) or the desired backup is not working. The pace of rallies and flat exchanges gets frenetic, and Sindhu is sucked into the whirlwind, throwing caution to a cackling drifty wind.

One notable feature of the World Championships 2019 outmanouevering of Tai Tzu Ying was the precise inputs from the coaching bench Sindhu got in closing out. While revving up her aggression and boosting her confidence was one part of that campaign, the court strategy in that masterclass – varying the pace, dictating the length of the rally, mixing the strokes, was not about homework and data analytics and a predetermined Plan A. Or B or C. It was intuitive, on-court inspired instructions from the voices behind her, and aggression that was innate to the strategy, not just a roar. The sixth straight loss has a common missing link, and it’s what coach Park will need to work on: juggling tricks against the juggernaut.

Prannoy goes flat again

HS Prannoy once again couldn’t follow up on a big win and pull out the next day’s knockout match, as he went down 21-18, 21-16 to Jonatan Christie. The Indonesian celebrated audibly, perhaps still seething from the 3-0 Thomas Cup defeat India struck down on the powerhouse over the summer.

Prannoy lacked sharpness at the net, and his attack couldn’t gather steam, as the always steady and smart Christie used body smashes and loopy drops to Prannoy’s far forehand corners to get the job done. A charge to the net in follow-up was Prannoy’s only effective point-surety. Christie kept rallies short and precise with no frills to win quickly.

Going ahead, Prannoy will need to take some hard calls and turn choosy about tournaments. “He needs to be very picky about tournaments for he needs time between tournaments to train and sharpen his game,” former international Anup Sridhar suggests.

Sure, others might make pitstops at every port of call, and ranking can take a hit. But Anup reckons now would be a good time to plan a smarter schedule and ensure Prannoy goes for the title wins rather than plodding along at every tournament. “He needs the breakthrough wins, knowing on his day he can beat anyone.”

End of 🇮🇳’s campaign at #MalaysiaOpen2022.#MalaysiaOpenSuper750#Badminton pic.twitter.com/a0ZjJwtpDV

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 1, 2022

The recurring losses after the heady scalps can be tough to process as certain losses linger. “When you lose with a poor score, it can take a bigger toll mentally. So Prannoy needs to decide now for the next 2-3 years before desperation sets in. Even Lin Dan at his peak played 30-40 percent fewer tournaments than others. Back to back tournaments are not easy on his body,” Anup stresses. The big man with the beastly backhand might need to take a cue from Viktor Axelsen, another smart planner, who even skipped his home tournament once.

“Six-eight big tournaments and three-four smaller ones with enough spacing, while others play 22-23. Indonesia he likes, and some others like All England, Worlds he should play. But strike out the ones where he’s not done well. Playing in select meets needs a rare kind of discipline. But it’ll help him focus,” Anup ends.