Last summer, Saina Nehwal needed a second wind to resurrect her career as an elite player. It was during the Uber Cup in New Delhi that former Chief coach Vimal Kumar, noticing lack of variation in her game, suggested minor changes.
A desperate Saina gained enough from Vimal’s tips and played her part in India’s first-ever bronze winning performance in the women’s team championship. Soon, the Australia Open title followed, but on returning to Hyderabad, Saina fell in the same rut in training. What proved the last straw for Saina was the eighth defeat — fourth in a row — to World No. 1 Li Xuerui in the World championship quarterfinals in August.
“I even contemplated quitting the game at that stage, losing to the same player again and again,” she said here on Saturday.
With the Asian Games round the corner, she took a desperate call to train under Vimal. She moved to Bangalore with her mother and the decision has worked wonders. After winning the China Open (in November) and Grand Prix in Lucknow, Saina managed to reach her first All England final.
On Saturday, she ensured the World No. 1 in the list to be released on Thursday and celebrated the feat in style, on Sunday, by beating former World champion Ratchanok Intanon for her maiden India Open title.
Stay injury-free“I want to keep winning titles for my country. But it will not be easy as I have to take care of my body and stay injury-free as this is a very physically demanding sport. I have to be careful on that and rest I think, the way I have been working I will show results soon,” said Saina as she looked ahead to next week’s Malaysia Open.
In June last year, Saina’s ranking slipped to ninth and she was in danger of losing her status as the best in the country to rising star P.V. Sindhu. In September, Saina decided to part ways with her mentor P. Gopi Chand to train under Vimal at the Prakash Padukone Academy.
This was the second time that Saina had chosen to walk away from Gopi. In 2011, Saina had shown faith in abilities of Bhaskar Babu, who is now, not surprisingly, out of favour.
However, a series of poor performances made a worried Saina return to Gopi in late 2011. The reunion helped Saina get her bearings back and she went on to win the elite Indonesia Open and claim the Olympic bronze in 2012. These days, there is no love lost between Saina and Gopi. However, on Saturday, Saina missed the moment to be gracious when she chose not to acknowledge Gopi’s contribution in her journey to the top.
Besting the ChineseIt is also equally true since September last, she has not only beaten more Chinese players than she did in the past few years but also proved her supremacy on their home turf by winning the China Open.
Vimal, credited by Saina for all recent results, batted for Gopi. “I will give Gopi a lot of credit. Gopi has given so much support and brought us to this level.”
Talking of Saina of past, Vimal said, “She was playing a game that became very predictable for the world’s other leading players. Her strength has always been her mind. She would retrieve anything but was inconsistent. I suggested that she could bring in some more variation from the back of the court. She gained with the straight flick down the line, cross-drops and a tumble at the net.”
It is now Saina’s opponents who are tumbling.
