Hyderabad: India’s top-ranked shuttler Saina Nehwal has achieved several milestones for India. In an interactive online session hosted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on Saturday (November 28), Nehwal looked back to some of her initial days of badminton.
When the family moved to Hyderabad, Nehwal wanted to do some sports after school, and it was her mother’s idea to make her join Karate until she found it difficult to continue after getting the brown belt.
“That’s when one of my father’s friend told him, ‘why don’t you tell Saina to join badminton’ because it was really popular in Hyderabad because of Gopi Sir and some senior players who were doing extremely well, but I didn’t know, because I was not someone who used to follow sports so much. But I used to love playing, I used to love winning,” Nehwal said.
In the 1999 summer camp, when Nehwal went to join badminton for the first, she was late by 10 days, but the coach agreed to see her play. “And the first stroke which I played was ‘smash’, and he was so happy to see that, for someone who just started playing badminton could hit a smash. Because smash is something you can hit after one or two years. It is not easy for a beginner to hit a smash like that, so that’s how my journey started,” she recounted.
Nehwal said her parents have supported her for her sports career, especially her mother, who was also a state-level player. She recalls one day she lost the semifinal in a U-19 match in Maharashtra. “My mother stepped in the court and slapped me,” 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist. “I started crying, my friends were also laughing. Parents can get to any extent, for their kids to do well,” she said.
Coaches like Nani Prasad and Goverdhan Reddy has supported her a lot. “In fact in 2000-2001, Goverdhan Sir actually wrote my name in the mobile phone as ‘World Champion’, which was really surprising,” she said.
Nehwal is currently preparing herself for the 2021 Olympics. She is looking forward to winning more medals. “I know Olympics is in everyone’s head. It’s something very big but before that, you have to think about so many tournaments. I’ve to get back to my rhythm and win against the players who are in top-20,” Nehwal said.
“There’s some two-three months’ of training before that. You have to be perfectly fine and play seven-eight tournaments after that only I will think about the Olympics. But yes, I’m definitely in the race. I want to do well and I’m working hard for that.”
When asked who is her favouring opponent to compete with, she is very clear with her answer, “No one is my favourite opponent, when I am on the court all are my enemies, I need to defeat everyone.” She does enjoy playing with Japanese players, while it is difficult for her to compete against the Chinese shuttlers.
Being a world-class player, and achieving so much, she has also faced failure at times. A fan of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, she said if they can go strong, she too can.
“I can see great examples in Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Serena doing so well. Why not you have to see how it goes? I’m a fighter and I will get back. When he can do it, why can’t I?” she said.
“Yes, there were times when I felt I have to ‘stop playing’ and ‘I can’t win anymore’. But then I thought I could push it. I love to fight. What will I do sitting at home? This is my life, this is my job,” she added.
The former world no.1 pulled out of the Denmark Open recently, due to COVID 19 pandemic. The pandemic has made situations very difficult, but she remains positive. “I’m doing well. Injuries play a big role and that happened to me. As of now, I feel good. I can do it, I can be the best in the world. It’s always been there in my head. I’ve to correct my mistakes. Improvement is definitely happening. Let’s see how I play. I don’t want to take that action suddenly. I want to see how badly I lose if I’m not capable of playing anymore,” she said.
Nehwal feels the fate of Badminton in India is changing. “Since cricket is the most popular sport in India, sometimes games like badminton and tennis do not get enough attention, but now people are showing more enthusiasm in badminton as well,” Nehwal concluded.
