Indian badminton star PV Sindhu has roped in Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso to help her prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sindhu, who was working with former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, confirmed the news to Sportstar and Reuters.
“Yes, we started working together in the last five days,” Sindhu said.
“He is keeping a close eye on what I might need. It is a new team of coaches and support staff. And, with the specific intent of being at my best in the year of the Olympics.
“I’d been training with Hafiz and then I wanted some change — I thought it was not suiting my game – and that’s when I asked Agus.”
Santoso is Sindhu’s third coach in a year. In February 2023, the 28-year-old parted ways with long-time coach Park Tae-Sang before working with Malaysian Hashim in July. The pair parted ways after Sindhu announced in November that she was shifting bases to Bengaluru to be mentored by former All England champion Prakash Padukone at his academy.
Santoso has an impressive coaching resume having coached compatriot Hendrawan to the men’s singles silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The Indonesian was also part of the Indian coaching team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coaching the men’s singles players.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, endured a poor 2023, failing to win a title and ended the season through injury at the French Open in October. The former World Champion is expected to make her comeback at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships to be held in Malaysia in February.
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