PV Sindhu lays foundation for Centre of Excellence in Vizag
PV Sindhu and Andhra Pradesh IT & HRD Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the P.V. Sindhu Centre for Sports Excellence in Vizag. The project is being built to develop young sporting talent and aims to help produce India’s future Olympians.
The proposed campus will cover close to two lakh square feet and is planned as a combination of sporting and educational infrastructure rather than a single-discipline facility. The initiative began with badminton as its initial focus but was expanded after Sindhu held discussions with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Nara Lokesh also shared a post about the event on his social handle (@naralokesh).
The centre will provide training across seven sports: badminton, table tennis, swimming, shooting, football, basketball and chess. Sindhu said the plan was to ensure that no particular sport received preferential treatment, with all seven disciplines developed as integral parts of the campus from the outset.
Considerable research went into shaping the project, with Sindhu and her husband, Venkata Datta Sai, using holidays to visit sporting facilities in Doha, Milan and Australia to study athlete development and infrastructure. "We put our sweat and blood into it. I can confidently tell you that it will be a world-class center and, at the same time, it will be an institute where people will actually be like, 'Wow, this is what we need in our state and in the country,'" Sindhu told The Hindu.
The centre is targeted for completion in May 2028. It is expected to allow youngsters to try their hand at different sports before deciding where they want to specialise, creating a structured route from grassroots participation to high-performance sport.
Sindhu described the project as a way to extend her contribution to Indian sport beyond her playing career, saying: "Sport has given me and taught me so much. It is a big project and is not easy, but at the same time I wanted something on this scale. I want to show people that we have a lot of talent and if we give them the world-class facilities, I’m sure you will see a lot of kids go on to bag medals for the state and the nation," she remarked. She added: "India gave me the opportunity to win two Olympic medals, which changed my life. And this institution is how I carry that opportunity forward. My medals will always be my greatest honour and I hope this centre becomes my greatest contribution. Olympic medals inspire a generation, but institutions build generations."
Sindhu is scheduled to next compete at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi later this month.
