pv sindhu
IANS

Indian badminton head coach Pullela Gopichand says sky-high expectations would put pressure on PV Sindhu and that he is confident of his ward producing consistent results.

Sindhu has cemented her position as one of the best in the world with some superlative performances after she won a silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016. The 21-year-old went on to win her maiden Superseries title at China World Superseries Premier in November last year.

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The weight of expectations after the Rio glory seems to lie easily on Sindhu's shoulders as she broke into the top-five earlier this year after a title at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold. Even after an early exit at the All England Open Badminton Championships, the young shuttler buckled up and won the India Open, beating arch-rival Carolina Marin in straight games.

However, Sindhu faced a first-round upset at the Malaysia Open, after which underwhelming performances in Singapore and Badminton Asia Championships followed. The world number three led India to the quarter-final at Sudirman Cup in May, but suffered another early exit in Indonesia, losing to lower-ranked Beiwen Zhang of the United States in the second round.

"I think Sindhu will keep losing a few matches here and there. She is 21. It does not matter. It just does not matter. I would not even talk to her after a defeat as I think there is not going to be much to analyse. I would take it for granted that she will tend to lose occasionally and it is okay with me," Gopichand told International Business Times India.

"She will keep getting us the results consistently. At the end of the year, if you look at her statistics, she would have won some big events. And that is good enough. It is not that every time she steps on the court, she has to win.

"She can have those expectations, but is not realistic to think like that. I think such a mindset also puts too much pressure on her. I am happy if she does good on a regular basis. And she is doing that well."

Sindhu is now gearing up for Australia Superseries, starting 20 June in Sydney. The fifth seeded Indian shuttler has been drawn in the first quarter, which also has world number one Tai Tzu Ying and Thailand great Ratchanok Intanon. She faces a tricky opening-round test as she will take on Indonesia Open winner Sayaka Sato of Japan in the first-round tie on Wednesday.

On the other hand, defending champion Saina Nehwal has been handed a tough draw in Sydney as she will face fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun in the opening round.