In the aftermath of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Saina Nehwal was staring into the abyss. She had been at the zenith of her powers barely a year earlier, World No. 1 and a finalist at both the All England and World Championships. But a knee injury — later diagnosed as career-threatening — not only ended her Olympic dream but also pushed her into near-hell. In a memorable line, she even confirmed the worst fears of her ardent fans: “I also think somewhere deep in my heart that maybe it is the end of my career, so let’s see how it is,” she told ESPN.
More than two-and-a-half years since then, Saina’s transformation into the player she is now — the most in-form going into the prestigious All England Championships — has been astonishing and character-revealing. Starting with the bronze at the Worlds in August 2017, she has medalled at the Asian Games and Asian Championships — bronze in both cases — and clinched gold at the Commonwealth Games. This year, she made the semifinals at the Malaysia Masters and won the Indonesia Masters, her first BWF Tour title in over two years. A senior National triumph, beating P.V. Sindhu in the final, was the icing on the cake.
“The toughness she earned in her formative years has sort of carried her through,” says former National champion U. Vimal Kumar, who coached Saina from 2014 to 2017, both at her peak and during the lowest ebb. “She was a naturally strong girl from a very young age. Even when she was U-13, she used to play in U-15, U-17 and even U-19 levels because she was good enough. She would play everything…. singles, doubles, mixed doubles. It toughened her up and has helped her last.”
The metamorphosis has occurred in two distinct phases. The bronze at the 2017 Worlds was followed by her first final in more than a year at the Indonesia Masters where she beat three top-10 players, including Sindhu. It established that Saina’s confidence-gnawing, belief-sapping days were over. Yet, the middling performances and blowout losses continued, despite the podium finishes at the Asian Games, Asian Championships and Commonwealth Games (CWG).
While she seemed to own certain players — she has defeated former world champion Ratchanok Intanon (No. 8) the last five times — there were six straight losses to Akane Yamaguchi (No. 5), three on the trot to Nozomi Okuhara (No. 2) and ten on the bounce to Tai Tzu Ying (No.1). At the 2018 Worlds, Saina succumbed to reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin (No. 3) in just 31 minutes, winning all of 17 points.
“It’s like a puzzle [falling into place],” says Danish legend Morten Frost, who was a commentator last year on the BWF Super Series circuit. “If they fall in the right way for her she can be a very strong contender and if it’s in the wrong way she will be struggling from the quarters, maybe even pre-quarters.”
It wasn’t until the Denmark Open last October that she appeared to crack the code. She shoved Yamaguchi and Okuhara out of the way before matching Tai shot for shot for two games in the final, which she ultimately lost in three. She did fall in subsequent tournaments to both Tai and Marin, but there is a renewed steeliness in her, as seen in her three successive wins over Okuhara. Besides, no player has got her head around the wizardry of Tai while Marin is almost ‘Serenaesque’ in her ability to summon her best when required.
“That [Denmark Open] was a big win mentally,” says P. Kashyap, player and Saina’s husband, who has seamlessly slipped into the role of quasi-coach. “In the last few months, she has added much to her game, in terms of movements, how not to leave empty spaces, the positioning, her stance after finishing the stroke, etc. Like, from certain corners she was only playing certain shots. We tried to add more to introduce a surprise element.
“With Saina, she has memories of past winning experiences playing a certain way. But you can’t keep doing it the same way. She is mentally very tough and her pain threshold is pretty high. But eventually you can’t always win with your physicality. Badminton is essentially a game of skill, especially when other players are also working harder and getting fitter. So it was very important to unlearn a few things.”
What’s also unique in Saina’s case is that she has had to battle two generations of players at their absolute peaks. Her initial foes were the gritty, marauding Chinese, whom she beat at their own game in the first part of the decade. Now, she finds herself amidst a pack of players who have made the women’s game the most competitive in world badminton. As Frost quips, “Women’s badminton is awesome! A very nice spread of playing styles and [the game] has never ever had such a high level [as] what it’s got today.”
Badminton has also become a more explosive sport, which works possibly every muscle and tendon in the body. The white feather birdie floating harmlessly back and forth may lure the romantics, but it hides a vicious, unrelenting experience with pain. That Saina is still up there as a contender, pushing the knee that almost gave up on her, is a testament to her indomitable will. And she has managed this against far younger opposition: she is just days shy of turning 29; among those ranked above her, Marin, at 25, is the oldest.
“As a primary game, hers has been a retrieving game, especially early in her career,” says National coach P. Gopi Chand. “But once things started changing, the opponents started changing, she has understood what needed to be done and what could lead to success. She has added new strokes and got smarter with her entire approach to the game. I wouldn’t say she is more attacking but she is much smarter.”
“To come out of that era [Chinese era] as one of the top players is extremely creditable,” says Kashyap. “There were three to four of them who would win all [tournaments]. In between, Saina would win medals and it was a huge thing. Competition spurred her on. She would always be thinking, ‘What [are] my opponents from China doing?’ Now with so many stars like Tai, Marin and Sindhu, it is tough to prepare for specific players.”
Of these, the Saina-Sindhu dynamic is what fascinates fans the most. When Saina got the bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and rekindled the love for badminton in Indian minds, Sindhu was a gifted teenager trying to find a foothold. In the following years however, she upstaged Saina, medalling at four World Championships and the Olympics in a six-year span (2013-2018). Today, she is the most sought-after non-cricket sports superstar in the country. Yet, Saina has beaten Sindhu each of the four times they have met since November 2017.
“Saina, I feel, has had a little more pride whenever she has played Sindhu,” says Vimal. “She never wanted to lose. That’s a champion’s quality to have…not to lose to anybody… from India, even though Sindhu got the World Championship medal before Saina. Sindhu, from what I have noticed, is slightly timid, or could never apply herself against Saina. Maybe because she has grown up seeing Saina as a superstar even though she herself is a superstar.
“That may well not be the real reason, but Saina would always have that underdog tag. In the last couple of years, Sindhu has had all the attention. That really added the extra bit when Saina played Sindhu. Sindhu, too, could never reach the level required. Going forward, it may well turn the other way. But Saina always had something extra.”
At the root of it all is Saina’s drive. It explains her decision to move to Bengaluru from the Gopi Chand Academy to train under Vimal when she needed more personalised coaching. It probably also explains her decision to return to the academy in Hyderabad, looking for high-quality sparring partners and the chance to train under the famed Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo. “Once you feel that you can improve further and see there is something lacking in your game, it is always good to have that change,” Saina had said. “Somewhere I felt I could improve…there is something else I could learn.”
The All England Championships, which starts in Birmingham on Wednesday, will be a good stage to test her new learning. To make matters simpler, Marin is out injured, leaving Tai as the woman to beat. But trickily, Saina has been drawn to meet the World No. 1 in the last eight. On current form, she may be ahead of the others in the race to challenge Tai, and the ‘slow hall’ is said to favour the ‘hard runners’. But as John McEnroe once said, “It’s never possible to be prepared when the future takes over from the past.” Saina, though, isn’t someone to give up.
