'Beginning of many more memorable moments together': PV Sindhu

PV Sindhu is delighted after her tricky first-round win over Michell Li on her comeback to the BWF World Tour at the French Open 2024 in Paris on Wednesday. Sindhu is also happy because of getting legendary Prakash Padukone on the sidelines as her coach.

This was her first World Tour event of the year after she recovered from a long injury layoff. Sindhu had suffered a left knee injury at the French Open in October 2023. Since that injury, the Hyderabadi shuttler shifted to Bengaluru to partner with Padukone to fine-tune her training.

"It (win) is even more special after having a true legend of Indian badminton by my side, taking on a coaching assignment after 25 years just to be in my corner! Prakash sir, I hope this is just the beginning of many more memorable moments together," Sindhu wrote on Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after her 20-22, 22-20, 21-19 win over Li in 80 minutes.

In a hard-fought match, Sindhu made a stunning comeback after rallying by five points to claim the decider.

Appreciating her coaching team, including Agus Dwi Santoso of Indonesia, Sindhu wrote, "Always happy to get a win in tricky, drifty conditions with a new team sitting behind me."

This was the back-to-back three-game match between Sindhu and Li. Sindhu will face Beiwen Zhang of the USA in the second round of the French Open Super 750 tournament on Friday. In their last meeting, at the Australian Open, Sindhu lost to Zhang in straight games. Sindhu, however, enjoys a 6-5 head-to-head edge over the American shuttler.