The Sports Authority of India (SAI) Bengaluru has evolved into a world-class training facility, equipped with advanced sports science labs, a research kitchen, and a focus on tracking every step of an athlete’s journey.
India’s celebrated badminton star PV Sindhu shared her experience, saying that SAI Bengaluru has always been supportive and that she is currently attending the camp to test her strength levels.
“I have come here a couple of times, and SAI Bengaluru has always been very helpful and made sure everything was on point and everything was fulfilled. I`m here to test my strength levels and see how you can improve it more,” Sindhu said.
The 29-year-old also mentioned that her father had visited the camp during his volleyball-playing days, and noted that there have been many changes since then.
“My father also used to come here when he was a volleyball player. Back then it was very different, a lot of improvement has taken place and I have heard that there will be much more improvement going forward,” she said.
Currently, the national camps of hockey, athletics, race walking, table tennis, volleyball, kabaddi, and water polo are held here.
“Not just me but hockey players, Olympic medallists have been training here and also Neeraj (Chopra) has come here. Such centres are very important for athletes to make sure everything is on point,” said the Hyderabad-born.
Sindhu has won numerous medals for India in badminton, including seven golds, seven silvers, and 12 bronze medals. She is currently ranked 21st in the women’s singles category, with her career-best ranking of World No. 2 achieved in April 2017.
India’s star 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable also praised the SAI facility, recalling his first visit there.
“I came here for the first time in 2017, so from that time to today, there have been a lot of changes. Earlier, there was only one synthetic track, but now there are two,” he said.
He drew comparisons with training camps in the USA, but emphasized that whenever he ran a good race, his training had taken place at SAI Bengaluru.
“…it can track all our activities. The recovery centre is new. I have trained in the USA, etc as well and no facility has so many things together at one place. So I like training here. Whenever I`ve run a good race, I have trained here,” said the 30-year-old.
(With PTI Inputs)
