Saina Nehwal
PANAJI
Ace Indian shuttler, Saina Nehwal was in the State to grace the FIDE World Cup in Arpora on Tuesday. The Olympic Bronze Medallist in Badminton made the ceremonial first move in the second classical game of the final for Chinese GM, Wei Yi. Nehwal also had a meet-and-greet session with around 50 children from the Khelo India Sports Excellence Centre, Peddem Sports Complex, Mapusa.
In a media interaction, the former world no.1 expressed her delight for being invited by FIDE for such a prestigious chess tournament in Goa. “I wish we had an Indian player (in action), but I still want to see how the players play. It is not easy. Every sport is tough. I understand it takes a lot of calmness. I know sometimes when you play chess, even at a difficult moment you should control yourself, and not show your emotions. I think that way, it is one of the toughest games mentally. You have to plan your moves better, and well in advance. It is not like in badminton, where we have rallies. In chess, I think you have to plan your moves a little faster. I am so proud being a sportsperson to be here for the Chess World Cup,” Nehwal stated.
A trailblazer in badminton in the country, Nehwal looks forward to continue her legacy off the court as well. In 2015, four Legends of the shuttle sport came together to form Legends’ Vision, an endeavour to give back to the sport that gave them so much. And Nehwal who came on board in due course, is pleased to be part of the mission. “Legends’ Vision is something I did not expect. It is something unbelievable to be a part of with such great champions that I have been a big fan of like Taufik Hidayat and Lee Chong Wei. Being part of the Legends’ Vision is like a dream come true. Thanks to Yonex Sunrise, we have come up with this very big initiative called ‘A Racquet’s Second Life.’ Anyone who plays badminton can donate a racquet. If that racquet reaches someone who cannot afford to buy a racquet or play the game, and now starts playing, there is no other bigger thing than that. As a sportsperson, I want India to be a sporting nation and as many kids that are there to take up sports. Once they pick up a racquet and have a desire to be a world champion, there is no other thing bigger than that. This initiative is very good and I am proud to be part of,” the 24 international titles winner remarked.
With India having produced champion women badminton players as PV Sindhu and her, she says there is a good future ahead for upcoming women players in the country. “I think there is a kind of improvement. All are doing extremely well. They have very good shots, very good strokes. They all are intelligent. I think all of them need to work on their power play, and become a little stronger. I think the plus point with Sindhu and myself; was that we were powerful that way because we pick up lot of shots and attack really well too. I think that is what is missing otherwise they are really good rally players. There is a lot of future in them. Having joined Superseries events in the last 1-2 years, we should give them some more time. I know they are 18-19, but sometimes the results come a little later. We were lucky to get the results a little earlier. But I feel Unnati Hooda, Anmol Kharb, Anupama Upadhyaya, Tanvi Sharma are all very talented. I just wish they get results a little bit faster,” the veteran badminton star elaborated.
On the biggest badminton hopes for the Los Angeles 2028, Nehwal stated, “On the men’s side we have Lakshya Sen who can do well in the Olympics. Among women, we have PV Sindhu, who is very experienced and she can definitely do well in the next Olympics.” On the upcoming players, Nehwal feels one has to be patient and allow them time to develop to the next level. “We need big titles to achieve big in the Olympics because it comes once in four years. You need to have a lot of experience to play in the Olympics. It is sometimes tough, when you do not have big results and play in the Olympics because you get a bit nervous. If you win it is a big thing, but otherwise you have to win some tournaments to gain confidence,” the Khel Ratna Awardee explained.
On her attributes as a confident player, Nehwal revealed that it came to her naturally, not with practice. “My mentality was never to give up. Sindhu was blessed with that quality, Srikanth Kidambi too. To an extent Prannoy H.S., Parupalli Kashyap were strong. We were getting results back-to-back. We were in the news for winning titles every week. I think somehow, we were fighters not only in tournaments but also in practice. We had a competition on who would do better every time. Luckily the body was so good, that injuries were very less. But nowadays, I feel the players like Lakshya have a bit of issue with injuries and it takes time to recover, sometimes 3-4 months. For back-to-back results you have to take care of your body. Apart from good training, mental conditioning is also important. Everyone has a psychologist nowadays. Government helps a lot now. Back then it was not there as much. Now, there is a one-on-one trainer, physio, coach, psychologist – a big team. Everything to look after a player, but only results are missing,” the badminton legend pointed out.
“I started playing at the age of 9, my mother was my trainer. She urged me never to give up, always keep fighting. Not to consider Chinese players as robots, but humans as well,” Nehwal revealed.
Advising the talented badminton players, the badminton queen said, “Make sure you are working hard, improving on your fitness and believe in yourself.”
