Record ₹50 crore deal for Sindhu
Olympics and World Championships to other titles. So it is just a matter of time before they win at All England. It could be Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma, Sindhu, Saina — anybody can win. It is just that they have to peak in that one tournament. I won’t be surprised if it happens this year itself with so many strong contenders.
How do you see the progress of Sindhu since Rio Olympics?
She has been very consistent, it’s remarkable. It is not easy to remain at the top in such a competitive field. In 2018, in almost all the important tournaments she reached the finals. She is probably the only player who has been so consistent, even though she did not win except the last one (BWF World Tour Finals). It is extremely creditable. Besides her, Tai Tzu Ying was the most consistent in last 12 months.
What separates Tai Tzu Ying from the rest?
One thing that differentiates her from the rest is her deception. Sometimes the players are not able to read Tai’s strokes. It is not easy at all to develop deceptive strokes and then, more importantly, to execute them at the right time. It takes years and years of practice. Tai is one example of combining the old style with the new. It doesn’t mean that you will not lose, but you will be much more consistent than the others.
How can someone like Sindhu work towards developing something distinct?
Her game has developed a lot but if I were her coach, I would have brought in a little more NEW DELHI: Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P V Sindhu has signed a whopping four-year sports sponsorship deal in the tune of ~50 crore with Chinese sports brand Li Ning.
The record deal comes after compatriot Kidambi Srikanth was offered ~35 crore over a period of four years by the Chinese company last month. “Sindhu’s deal is one of the biggest in world badminton. It is close to ~50 crore for sponsorship and equipment,” Mahender Kapoor, director, Sunlight Sports Pvt Ltd, the exclusive partner of Li-ning in India, said.
“It will be a deal which is very close to Puma’s deal with Indian cricketer Virat Kohli in terms of yearly sponsorship. Sindhu will get ~40 crore as sponsorship while the rest will be for equipment, so it is close to ~50 crore,” Kapoor claimed. In 2017, Puma had signed Kohli for reported deal of ~100 crore endorsement deal for a period of eight years, which came down to 12.5 crore per year.
Sindhu, who rose to stardom after becoming the first Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, was listed as the world’s seventh-highest paid sportswoman on the Forbes list last year. This is Li-ning’s second stint with Sindhu, who was with them for two years in 2014-2015 for a sum of ~1.25 crore a year.
In 2016, Sindhu was back with Yonex for a ~3.5 crore per year contract for a period of three years. Li-ning also roped in men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy for a deal of ~4 crore each for two years, while former CWG champion Parupalli Kashyap has been offered a ~8 crore deal for two years.