There is an adage saying that behind every successful man there is a woman. In the victorious Pusarala Venkata Sindhu’s magnificent rise her father Ramana was the principal character in shaping her daughter’s highly successful career.
Ever since Ramana, who was the member of the Indian volleyball team that won the bronze in the 1986 Asian Games at Seoul, decided to put Sindhu into badminton there was no looking back.
In fact, Sindhu is a perfect example of ‘catch them young’ project. Being himself a volleyball player so is his wife Vijaya, sport was in Sindhu’s blood. Ramana had a clear idea to what, where, how and when to make Sindhu a successful badminton player. The foundation stone of Sindhu’s rise was laid brick by brick.
Ramana would take her daughter religiously to all big tournaments so that she could get feel of the high-intensity badminton. When the World championship was held at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad in 2009, one could see Ramana taking the 14-year-old Sindhu to the tournament. In the far corner of the stadium, Ramana would see the proceedings along with Sindhu, explaining the nuances of the game. As a sincere student of the game, Sindhu would observe and get to know the preparations of a player.
A hard task master Ramana, like Pullela Gopichand, was aware hard work, dedication and discipline would be the key for her road to success. In that way, Sindhu was lucky to have a father like Ramana who had a single-minded devotion to make her daughter the best player.
Her journey began with basics getting strong under the tutelage of late Mehboob Ali at Irieset courts in Secunderabad. Ramana was always restless and looked for new avenues. The next stop was at former chief national coach Syed Mohd Arif at Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium. It was when Gopichand and Saina Nehwal success story began and Ramana waited for the opportunity to put her daughter into the academy. Gopichand could see an extraordinary talent in Sindhu. What impressed Gopichand was Sindhu’s ability to handle pressure and the willingness to put in extra hard work. For this former all England champion Sindhu was the ideal player who could be a big-stage player like Saina.
Being a volleyball player, Ramana minutely observed the progress of Sindhu. “There are a lot of similarities between volleyball and badminton. There is a net in between while we use hands, the badminton player takes the help of a racket. Strategically, I could read the game and I could impress upon Sindhu that where she was making mistakes. To be honest, she was an honest student.”
Seeing Sindhu’s phenomenal progress, Ramana finally shifted their residence from house in West Marredpally to Gachibowli. “We were wasting our time in travelling. So we thought we should shift to Gachibowli. By this time Sindhu established herself and when she won the bronze in 2013 World Championship, we thought it is time we be serious in shaping Sindhu’s career.”
Staying closer to the Gopichand academy, both Ramana and Sindhu would be there by 4.30 in the morning. With Gopichand too being strict disciplinarian, it was much to the liking of Ramana. “We had our own difficulties, financially and mentally. But we fought the odds and today a successful Sindhu is the result of sacrifices and hard work,” said Ramana.
During the Rio Olympics in 2016, Sindhu had the privilege of being the main player as Saina had left for Vimal Kumar academy in Bengaluru. Incidentally, Sindhu had acknowledged that Saina was her role model. “I think one of the reasons for my game to improve is playing with Saina at the academy. It is a wonderful learning lesson for me. I like her mental preparation to the game. She is a role model to any young player.”
Today, Sindhu stands on the pinnacle of glory. For winning this title, Ramana ensured that her daughter is on the right track with special training, with focus on fitness and recovery exercises. That 12-day fitness training at Suchitra Academy made the big difference in World Championships. Tokyo Olympics is the next big stop for Sindhu.
