One of the most successful Indian badminton players, Pusarla Venkat Sindhuthanks to her achievements, she helped take the game to the next level in the country.
Her Olympic silver medal from Rio 2016 – along with a complete set of medals from the Badminton World Championships – helped raise the profile of badminton in the country to a whole new level.
Although a lot of credit goes to her for the support and input of her longtime coach Pullela Gopichandfew people are aware of the dedication and effort her parents put in throughout their careers.
Sports in the genes
The world today might know PV Raman as the father of India’s ferry queen PV Sindhu. But for a whole generation, the man from Andhra Pradesh was one of the fiercest cyclists helped the Indian volleyball team many successes during its heyday.
He came from a modest environment and a large family that had to cope without his father, who died very early.
An Indian Railways worker in Secunderabad, measuring 6.3 inches PV Raman, first played volleyball for India at the age of 20 at the 1984 Asian Junior Volleyball Championship.
Three years in his international career meant he rubbed shoulder to shoulder with the great Indian volleyball teams Jimmy George. It’s with that band he played a part in blockerthat India won the bronze medal at the 1986 Asian Games.
Competition and training may have kept Ramana busy during his playing days, but that never stopped him from helping his daughter chart her path to success.
In fact, he was even offered the role of head coach of the Indian volleyball team, but his priorities lay elsewhere.
The story goes that the father-daughter duo went to the badminton academy in Gachibowli, about 30 km from their home in Marredpally, twice a day to make sure that PV Sindhu never missed a training session.
Over the years, Ramana has become an indispensable part of the PV Sindhu team.
The father tries to get to most of the competitions in which his daughter participates. Be it the World Championships, World Tour Finals or Tour tournaments, there are very few events the award-winning Arjuna has missed in PV Sindhu’s career.
Today, the father understands his daughter’s game so well that he is ahead of her BWF World Championship 2019 in the gold medal campaign, Ramana took it upon himself to bring in a conditioning and strength trainer who could help PV Sindhu go further.
“It was necessary and there was no other alternative,” Ramana later said Telangana todayrevealing that he was guiding the plan through her trainers Pullela Gopichand AND Kim Ji Hyun.
PV Sindhu won her first world title and the Indian badminton player is happy to admit that her family who understands the athlete’s journey has helped her in many ways.
“Parents are the most important part of an athlete’s success because they understand the child’s psyche better than others,” PV Sindhu would say attended the last webinar.
“I spend a lot of time with my father watching my and other players’ matches to analyze and plan a strategy against them.”
PV Sindhu: My life as a superstar in India
Vijaya, a dedicated mother
While PV Sindhu’s father was her companion from her early days, it was her mother, Vijaya, who provided her daughter with the right environment to grow up, both mentally and physically.
Like her dad, P.V. Sindhu’s mother was a volleyball player who represented the famous Railway team during her playing days and this was due to the sport they came across despite living in Chennai.
The two often met at tournaments between railways and across India, and married shortly after the 1986 Asian Games.
Although Vijaya could not reach the heights that the game took her husband, she never complained.
Choosing to voluntarily resign from her Indian Railway job to help PV Sindhu’s career, Vijaya has always been a support for her daughter in need.
A comforter and confidante, Vijaya has always been by her daughter’s side, hoping and praying for her success both on and off the court.
But what makes Vijaya proud is society’s changing attitude towards female athletes.
“When I was growing up, girls weren’t even allowed to go out and play. Most of the time, the hardest part was getting permission to play,” she said News18 website. “Neighbors said, ‘Why is she going out and playing when she should be studying?’
No wonder that after PV Sindhu became world champion in August 2019, she decided to dedicate her title to her mother.
“My mother’s role cannot be quantified or measured,” said the Indian badminton player Sports star website. “Simply put, if it wasn’t for her, I couldn’t have made this career.”
