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Badminton

The 'Aaram Se' policy of PV Sindhu's coach Park Tae-sang

While PV Sindhu won the hearts of millions as she picked up a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, her amicable coach Park Tae-sang also found a million fans overnight!

The Aaram Se policy of PV Sindhus coach Park Tae-sang
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By

Sohinee Basu

Updated: 2 Aug 2021 12:49 PM GMT

On a particularly memorable Sunday for India, just as ace shuttler PV Sindhu stole hearts once again by bagging a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and becoming the first Indian woman to be a double medallist at the Games, a very animated coach Park Tae-sang cheered on from the sidelines, leaping up and down in joy, the smile bursting forth from behind the mask as his pupil created history and won our hearts too.

Throughout the course of the Tokyo Olympics, if there was one person who grabbed the eyeballs other than PV Sindhu whenever the World No. 7 was on court, it had to be the most enthusiastic coach, Park Tae-sang. Sitting restlessly court side, Park's expressions reached out to all watching - as he seemed to be holding his heart in his mouth as Sindhu took on fierce opponents like Akane Yamaguchi, Tai Tzu-ying and eventually, played China's He Bingjiao for the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Staying with Sindhu through each and every point and behaving a lot like we were behaving in our drawing rooms watching the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist go for difficult shots, Park Tae-sang was like all of us, easy to be nervous, easy to wear the mask of worry at every tense moment and erupt with frantic joy after every point won! Never have we ever found a badminton coach this relatable and this inspiring, at the same time.



The many moods of Coach Park Tae-sang


PV Sindhu and her Coach Park Tae Sang


Coaching a star like PV Sindhu, Park Tae-sang was also pretty nervous and knew there was so much at stake but the Korean, behind all the amicable gestures, is a man that has made all the difference in PV Sindhu's game. Endearing by nature, the Korean is inarguably the reason behind PV Sindhu's sharp growth in the past couple of years. Quite the soothsayer, Park stayed put with Sindhu, maintaining eye contact with his World Champion pupil and cheered on loudly as Sindhu roared after every difficult point.

In the post-bronze medal win press conference, Park Tae-sang admitted that he felt the jitters of coaching Sindhu and also confessed to being the more nervous of the pair, when Sindhu landed herself in a clutch position in the matches - as he amicably raised his hands in quick admittance.

Speaking in broken English, Park mentioned, all smiles, "I felt little pressure because Sindhu was already a star, I also tried my best," the Korean said humbly.

Overjoyed by the win of his pupil and having gained a lot of fans overnight after the bronze win, Park feels overwhelmed - his social handles flooded with congratulatory messages as his reality and dream has coalesced to create something surreal. ​​Park mentions, a little too dazed still, "This is my first-time in a coaching career and I am happy that it yield a medal!"


The 'take it easy policy' of Park Tae-sang


PV Sindhu and her Coach Park Tae Sang


The more we saw and heard of Park Tae-sang at the Tokyo Olympics, the more difficult it was to not give our hearts to him! Having picked up some broken Hindi over the one and a half year period he has been coaching PV Sindhu, Park has understood the importance of doing everything 'aaram se' in the big matches and during the biggest of points.

For PV Sindhu, whose natural style is to be aggressive, it is very difficult to keep a calm head and not commit unforced errors in trying to channel the aggression in the game - it was very important to maintain a level head. At the Tokyo Olympics, PV Sindhu was a revamped player - even if she showed aggression, it was measured and she was clinical with her shots, an impeccable strategy in place, curated by Park to prepare the World Champion for the Olympic stage.

But the tense points did come and the match felt like it was slipping out on several occasions and Park, unable to stay put to his chair, would get up and shout to Sindhu - 'Aaram Se, Aaram Se!!', much like we must have been doing back at home - holding on to our chairs and asking Sindhu to take it a little easily, our hearts also skipping beats in the nail-biting rallies!

Park mentions in the press conference how he would look at his pupil and plead, "Sindhu, please aaram se, we are not finished with the rally!"

With a bronze medal to show off for all their hard work now, the duo of PV Sindhu and Park Tae-sang have clearly made their way into our hearts, with their big smiles and sheer genuinity of feeling the raw emotions. And after having watched this stunning performance at the Tokyo Olympics, we cannot wait for more of the Sindhu and Park magic in the days to come and keep giving us more reasons to smile about!

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