'No rift with Sindhu, I am aware of her decision': Chief Coach Gopichand

Indian badminton national team's chief coach Pullela Gopichand has rubbished the speculation of any possible "rift" between him or his academy with World Champion & Olympic Silver medallist PV Sindhu, saying he was well aware of her decision to go to the UK to work on "nutrition and recovery" and he never objected to it.

'We did not have any issue'

"I am well aware of it. She had told us in advance. She has time and I am ok with it. We did not have any issue. There is no issue between us or the academy. She has taken a 6-week break and will resume training at the camp in mid or late November," Gopichand told Republic TV over the phone.

It's not for the first time that Sindhu was working under a team of experts, including Rebecca Randell of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in the UK. "Sindhu has been working with GSSI for the past 3 years, they have been closely working with her and helping her in her nutrition and recovery. Usually, she only gets little time to work on this due to the hectic badminton schedule, however, she has now got an opportunity to work on it for a reasonably long time," a source close to Sindhu told Republic TV.

Another coach from the camp on condition of anonymity said it was purely Sindhu's own decision. "Let's not speculate on her decision and we do not disapprove of her personal decision. It's her decision. She has taken it. But we will always support her as she is a champion shuttler."

Revealing the reason behind the break from the national camp, Sindhu in a Twitter post said that she had travelled to the UK to work on her recovery and nutrition. 

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Sindhu tweeted: “Happy to be in England and working with GSSI over the next few weeks on my nutrition and recovery with @rrandell86! 3 months to Asia tour and this is the best chance to work on this and improve!!” The world champion might soon start training with the England badminton team to maintain her game at the highest level.

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(Image credits: PTI)