PV Sindhu’s Asian Games campaign ended in the women’s singles quarter-finals, but the result has been overshadowed by serious questions about the scheduling of badminton at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan.
The two-time Olympic medallist was forced to play three singles matches in 18 hours, leaving her with remarkably little time to recover before facing China’s Chen Yufei in the quarter-finals. Sindhu eventually lost 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 in a hard fought contest, and after coming within three points of closing out the contest.
The scheduling was particularly demanding because Sindhu’s third-round match ended at around 1 a.m. on Sunday. She returned to her hotel around 1:30 a.m., had dinner and her recovery routine and reportedly went to sleep close to 3 a.m. She then woke around 9 a.m. to prepare for her quarter-final, which began at approximately 1:30 p.m.
Sindhu herself made it clear that she believed the schedule had taken a physical toll. She said recovery was more important than simply mentally preparing for another match, pointing out that when rallies become long, tired legs can prevent even a fit athlete from performing normally.
Her post-match comments have consequently triggered questions about whether the organisers gave sufficient consideration to athlete recovery while preparing the competition schedule. The issue is not simply that players had multiple matches, badminton tournaments can require athletes to play repeatedly. The concern is the compressed turnaround between matches, particularly at a major multi-sport event where athletes are competing for medals representing their countries.
Sindhu later wrote that she had been only three points away from winning the quarter-final, but acknowledged that the demanding schedule had taken its toll.
Other Indian players have also expressed concerns about the congested schedule. The complaints therefore raise a broader question for the organisers, shouldn’t elite athletes at an Asian Games be given greater recovery windows between successive rounds?
In the match against Sindhu, Chen Yufei fought back strongly after losing the first game, and Sindhu herself acknowledged that she had opportunities to close out the match.
