Sindhu, a future World No 1, feels former champion Thomas

Thomas, who had won the singles title in 1990 and the doubles two years later, thinks Sindhu will play in two more Olympics. “Sindhu is young and very hard-working; her height and physical strength are crucial factors in her game,” said Thomas, who had also won the Commonwealth Games title in 1998. 

“Normally the taller players will have less reflexes and they are more injury prone but Sindhu has overcome both these by her hard training,” said Thomas, currently working as chief manager (administration) at BPCL, Kochi. In Rio de Janeiro, Sindhu had met right-handers until she reached the final whereas Marin, a left-hander was up against only right-handers. 

But that, according to Thomas, a left-hander himself, was not at all a crucial factor in Friday’s gold medal match.

“Sindhu had played many times with Marin and in the last match in Denmark she beat Marin. A player like Sindhu’s calibre will easily neutralise the advantage of the left-hander after a few points. I don’t think that was a problem for Sindhu at all,” opined Thomas. 

Though she played well in the first game, in which she neutralised a five-point deficit towards the end and won it, Sindhu committed many errors in the next two, according to Thomas. He said Marin played a positive game. “But for the errors by Sindhu, it was anybody’s match.,” added Thomas. “Marin’s fighting quality coupled with her consistency and experience made the difference.” The former national champion does not believe the Chinese, who could not throw up a finalist in women’s singles, do not have any firepower in badminton. “The Chinese definitely had a fall in badminton over the last few years but there are quite a few players coming up and I don’t think we can write off China. Other countries such as India, Japan, Korea and Denmark are producing more players now,” he noted. George Thomas commended the good work done by Gopichand for the cause of Indian badminton. 

“Gopi’s role is great. His commitment, hard work, dedication, experience, knowledge and guidance produced all players including Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth and many others. His academy has got all facilities and he and his team can work wonders for the sport,” he signed off.