Hoping to bounce back: P.V. Sindhu has been struggling to rediscover her best form since suffering a fracture in her left foot last August.
PETALING JAYA: Former national shuttler Hafiz Hashim will continue his coaching duties in the Suchitra Badminton Academy in Hyderabad although women’s singles star P.V. Sindhu has moved on to train under Prakash Padukone.
Hafiz, who has been juggling his duties as coach in the academy and also guiding Sindhu, is more than willing to continue offering the latter advice and assistance when needed.
Sindhu had announced that Prakash will assume the role of mentor in her coaching setup, leaving Hafiz’s position as her coach up in the air.
Hafiz has since moved to clarify his position.
“Sindhu has already started training in Prakash’s academy in August,” said Hafiz.
“Prakash is now her mentor in training. But as a coach, I’ve been guiding her in tournaments.
“I’m here for Suchitra Academy and giving a hand to help Sindhu.
“I will always be here if she needs my help,” added Hafiz.
World No. 11 Sindhu has been struggling to rediscover her best form since suffering a stress fracture in her left foot last August.
The 2019 world champion has not won any titles since returning to competitive action in the beginning of the year with her best being a runners-up finish in the Spain Masters in April.
Former All-England champion Hafiz though is remaining positive about Sindhu’s progress after she had reached back-to-back semi-finals in the Arctic and Denmark Opens last month.
“She’s getting better and I hope she will come back to her best form next year.”
Sindhu though is currently sidelined with a left knee injury.
She last competed in the French Open in Rennes last month where she had been forced to concede a walkover in the second round to Thailand’s Supanida Katethong after experiencing pain in her knee.
