PV Sindhu parts ways with coach Park Tae-sang: 'She wanted change'

India's badminton star PV Sindhu has parted ways with coach Park Tae-sang, the latter confirmed on his official Instagram profile. Park helped Sindhu clinched a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and then a gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. However, Sindhu endured a stress fracture on her ankle during the Birmingham Games, following which she took a break from the sport.

Her return to badminton in January earlier this year was rather uneventful, as she faced first round defeats in both, Malaysia Open and India Open.

“… I'd like to talk about my relationship with @pvsindhu1 , which many people have asked about. She has made disappointing moves in all recent matches, and as a coach, I feel responsible,” Park wrote on his Instagram profile.

“So she wanted a change and said she would find a new coach. I decided to respect and follow her decision. I'm sorry that I can't be with her until the next Olympics, but now I'm going to support her from afar. I will remember every moment with her. I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting and encouraging me,” wrote the South Korean former shuttler.

Sindhu had earlier spoken about how her coach had taken the responsibility of a first round-defeat at the Malaysia Open, and defended Park as she insisted that the first game back from injury was always going to be difficult.

“After the injury, coming back itself is a really hard thing. It’s not so easy. My coach put up his feelings because, for the last five months, we haven’t played. I feel we need to take one match at a time. We need to be happy that we actually attempted to play after an injury. By god’s grace, I hope everything will be fine and there will be good days,” Sindhu had said to Hindustan Times on the sidelines of India Open in January.

“Olympic qualifications are going to start soon, so we need to prepare and plan accordingly," she had further said.