When RMV Gurusaidutt played the Junior Badminton World championships in 2008, it had already been three months since Saina Nehwal had competed in the Beijing Olympics – where she had created history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the quarterfinals. A decade and a half later, Gurusaidutt has now transitioned to the role of coach. At the India Open in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium on Tuesday, he was sitting in the coaches chair behind the court.
On the mat, still playing was Nehwal.
“It’s not in my destiny to be a coach,” she will say later. “That’s not the kind of person I am. I don’t have that motivation or feeling that mai coach ban sakti hu (I don’t have that motivation or feeling that I can be a coach). I see that in Guru and I see that in (Parupalli) Kashyap and maybe also (HS) Prannoy in future. They know how to express and have the coaching ability. Mere me nahi hai so I think thode aur saal khel leti hu, (I don’t have it in me, so I think I’ll play a few years more)” she said.
Nehwal’s 32 now. She’s still competing and still winning. On Tuesday, Nehwal would beat Mia Blichfeldt 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 to reach the second round of the India Open.
In the Indian’s pomp, perhaps when she was World number 1, this would be a matter of fact sort of performance, maybe even seen with an eyebrow raised at the fact that the match against the World number 24 went to a decider.
But Nehwal’s a long way from her peak. She’s world number 32 right now, For all her indomitable spirit, her body has been slower to keep up as age and injuries have taken their toll. Bronze medallist at London, she didn’t even qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. After a ligament issue to her right knee, even early rounds have proved to be a stumbling block. At the India Open last year, the knives were sharpened as she lost in straight games to the far lower ranked Malvika Bansod.
Since then she’s won six and lost 14 matches. After her knee trouble was compounded by issues with her back and hip, she last went past the first round six tournaments ago.
A lesser player might have had enough. Nehwal’s legacy – Olympic, World and Asian medals and Commonwealth golds -- is plenty enough for most people. Not for Nehwal though. What keeps her playing?
“Players like to play,” she says. “ Aur kya bacha hai? Jitna kaafi nahi hai? (What else is left? Isn’t winning enough?”) ,Winning is also nice. You want to achieve what you can,” she says.
Nehwal doesn’t think she’s special in wanting to play as long as she can. “I’m sure every player fights so they can keep playing. Some feel that they have achieved enough so they stop playing. When the body finally has enough, then maybe you have to stop it. Jab mujhe lagega bohot ho gaya then (when I feel it’s too much) I will give it up,” she says.
What separates Nehwal perhaps is the fact that she simply refuses to believe that it’s too much. “When I was struggling (last year) people of course speak about me not performing. That is natural. But if I think about what people (are saying) I might have to stop playing. But I myself felt I have to fight it out,” she says.
Instead of wallowing in self pity because of her injury, Nehwal says she looked for answers. “I knew the (knee ligament) issue was a small one. It wasn’t something big. It wasn’t that I could not fight. I was only thinking about myself. If I can find a solution, that’s very good. If I can’t then there is always the option of stopping badminton. I just thought I should find a solution. It’s not such a big problem that I can’t find a solution,” she says.
Nehwal’s been working on the underlying issue – her right knee for the last few months. Solving that has been critical to her improvement. “In the last 2-3 months there has been gradual improvement. But today I could see that I worked on my stamina and overall hitting game,” she says.
Nehwal matched Blichtfeldt, seven years her junior, stroke for stroke. Her court coverage – key to her success – was on the mark. Towards the end there was even some vintage attacking flair, setting up match point with line grabbing smashes to the right and left of the Dane.
It’s the sort of win that will boost her confidence significantly. For all Nehwal’s intrinsic self belief, that on-court confidence to push that extra inch in a rally is something that only comes with victory.
“I probably lost a few point because I didn’t have that confidence because I was not able to pull out matches in recent times. Now it’s coming back,” she says.
“I’m sure every player fights so they can keep playing. Some feel that they have achieved enough so they stop playing. When the body finally has enough, then maybe you have to stop it. Jab mujhe lagega bohot ho gaya then (when I feel it’s too much) I will give it up”Saina Nehwal
It will take many more wins for it to return to where it used to be. With her early losses over the last year, Nehwals tumbled down the rankings. That’s meant harder and harder draws and consequently more and more losses. “I’ve been getting really tough opponents from the first round but I have to win some matches to get to the better rounds otherwise I will have to keep on facing tough opponents early on. I have to pull out such matches so I get the confidence to play against the top 10 players as well,” she says.
Nehwal certainly believes she has it in her to do so. “At the moment, I feel I can be competitive against all the players. The way I pulled out this match, the shots I played, the speed I played with, gives me the confidence that I can match the top,” she says.
She’ll get the chance to test that improved confidence soon. In just a couple of days actually.
Nehwal’s got a win against Blichfeldt but things are only going to get harder from this point. Her next match is against Olympic champion Chen Yufei. There’s no guarantee of success but you can be guaranteed Nehwal’s not going to give anything less than her best. “I’ve always been a fighter. I love to fight. I love a challenge,” she says.
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