Stronger than ever: fulfilling comeback journeys for Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom

Two of India’s most renowned sportswomen share their gruelling but fulfilling comeback journeys

December 12, 2017 05:17 pm | Updated 10:05 pm IST

Gold medallist India's Hmangte Chungneijang Mary Kom reacts after being declared the winner of the women's flyweight (48-51kg) boxing final match against Kazakhstan's Shekerbekova Zhaina during the 2014 Asian Games at the Seonhak Gymnasium in Incheon on October 1, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

Gold medallist India's Hmangte Chungneijang Mary Kom reacts after being declared the winner of the women's flyweight (48-51kg) boxing final match against Kazakhstan's Shekerbekova Zhaina during the 2014 Asian Games at the Seonhak Gymnasium in Incheon on October 1, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

Towards the end of 2016, two of India’s finest sportspersons, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom, were staring at a tunnel with seemingly no light at the end of it. Saina was all of 26 but appeared to have ruptured her knee to such an extent that her career was all but over. Mary, 33 and a mother of three, had failed to make the cut for the 2016 Rio Olympics and it increasingly felt that she wouldn’t recover from the debacle.

However what has followed in the year since then has been nothing short of remarkable. Saina battled to earn a bronze medal at the Glasgow World Championships in August. From the outside, it doesn’t seem much for she has a silver medal she settled for at the 2015 Worlds and a bronze from the 2012 London Olympics. But the Glasgow medal was worth its weight in gold. Meanwhile Mary bagged her fifth Asian championship gold medal in October in Vietnam, her first yellow metal winning feat in over three years.

 Karnataka Bengaluru :04/12/2015:   Indian Badminton Player Saina Nehwal at her practice session in BAngalore on Friday.
Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

Karnataka Bengaluru :04/12/2015: Indian Badminton Player Saina Nehwal at her practice session in BAngalore on Friday. Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

“Coming out of a surgery is not easy,” says Saina. “It doesn’t matter if it’s major or minor. Both endurance and stamina go down. You are losing three to four months of your time. Then you need two months of rehab and two more months to get back. So it might take more than a year to go back to your original level. I am happy that I could get the bronze at the Worlds. I feel that I am coming back into good condition.”

For Mary, the five-time world boxing champion, it wasn’t just that. While she didn’t compete for more than a year after the Rio disappointment, she was injured in her first international competition when she returned in July, raising more question marks.

“Many people were talking in the negative,” the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist said. Also for me, there are so many other responsibilities. I am a Member of Parliament and it is not easy. I train from 6 to 8 in the morning, run to the Parliament. I rest for a while in the afternoon and train again in the evening from 5. This was my daily routine before this Asian Championship. That was very tough.”

Mumbai: Indian boxer Mary Kom poses with children during a promotional event for regional boxing foundation in Mumbai on Saturday. PTI Photo by Mitesh Bhuvad(PTI11_25_2017_000127a)

Mumbai: Indian boxer Mary Kom poses with children during a promotional event for regional boxing foundation in Mumbai on Saturday. PTI Photo by Mitesh Bhuvad(PTI11_25_2017_000127a)

Both badminton and boxing have an enduring relationship with pain. Even when an athlete heals and recovers, getting the mind to follow is tougher.

“Motivation is tough at the highest level,” Saina says. “I am human. I feel bad. I feel stressed out. I am happy to have the company around me which keeps me motivated; especially my mother who just wants me to play. She has the belief that I can still win titles.”

Mary on the other hand has had to adjust to the changing nature of boxing. “A few years ago, I could easily tell who my toughest opponents were. Now every boxer is tough. Earlier they were all shorter than me. Now everyone is tall, lean and very strong. I think I am the smallest (5 ft 2 in). At the Olympics I was in 51kg because there is no 48kg. There all boxers were bigger than me. I feel lucky now. I am used to fighting people taller than me. I now have the technique, skill and experience to compete with them.”

Both Saina and Mary are now closer to the end than the beginning. But true to their characters they are showing no signs of slowing down. Saina is in fact back in the world top-10 and Mary has rekindled in herself the fire to set right that botched attempt at Olympic glory in 2016 by looking ahead to Tokyo 2020.

“My dream is not fulfilled yet,” declares Mary. “Since London 2012 I have wanted to win gold for my country and I am still trying. Tokyo 2020 is a bit far, yes. Whether I get or not is different but I am trying all the time.”

Saina may not have such set goals, but still wants to improve. After a gap of three years, she is back under the tutelage of P. Gopichand, the Chief National Coach, under whose watchful eyes she picked up the sport in Hyderabad.

“The only thing I am lacking is fitness,” she says. “I have the belief that the moment I am going to be stronger it’s going to be better. I lost to some of the toughest players recently. But it’s not like I am being caught in a particular area or that I am fully fit and still losing. It is fitness. And when Gopi sir says there is a lot of badminton left in me, maybe there is something. Let us see how it goes.”

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