Saina Nehwal burst into the unsuspecting badminton world and the consciousness of Indian sports fans like lightning in May 2006 when as a precious 16-year-old teenager she made her way into the open four-star from the Philippines and snatched the title out of the jaws of a few highly ranked players, including then-world No.2 Xu Huaiwen. At that time, Saina, born in Hisar-Haryana, was ranked 86th in the BWF World Ranking.
From this sensational victory, Nehwal never looked back. Indeed the surge in popularity of the sport in the years 2006 to around 2018 was mainly due to it. She formed a unique and highly profitable pairing with coach Pullela Gopichand, and they embarked on a never-before-seen winning streak not only in India but the rest of the world as well.
After all, India has never had an example or heritage to follow in singles for distaff players.
In single men, we’ve had intermittently brilliant, self-produced, self-taught individuals with no one to guide them. Nandu Natekar, Dinesh Khanna, Prakash Padukone, the late Syed Modi, Gopichand, all ten best commuters of their time. Padukone was of course ranked number 1 in his day. In women’s singles, the closest player to be respected abroad was Aparna Popat – the nine-time national champion, who won Commonwealth silver and bronze medals and rose to 14th in the world.
However, Nehwal never followed the story and played at will, unaffected by the reputation of any player on the net.
I remember Gopichand once telling me as I was working on her biography, “I don’t know what she’s made of, but she just doesn’t care about anyone’s names and reputation. She just wants to win, that’s all. A very hardworking player himself during his career, he was delighted to see the same qualities in the teenager who just wanted to bulldozed past every opponent.
Nehwal was a real con artist in the field, the quintessential type of street fighters, who just didn’t want the shuttle falling into her field, through thick and thin. Not a lot of grace in her playing or moves, like the former shuttle queen Ami Ghia, or the calm poise of Aparna Popat. Nonetheless, Nehwal just threw everything she had at you, clubbing you in submission, with attack and rhythm. It sounded like the style of former national record holder Madhumita Bisht. This deadly duo of Gopichand and Nehwal has won 24 titles at the BWF level.
A bronze medal at the London 2012 Games, a silver medal and a bronze medal at the world championships, two bronze medals at the Uber Cup, three gold medals and one silver and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, two bronze medals at the Asian Games, three bronze medals at the Asian championships, gold and bronze at the world junior championships: she won 17 medals at the highest world level in badminton, in addition of the 24 BWF Tour titles she has won in a brilliant career.
In 2008, Nehwal won the Chinese Taipei Open at the age of 18, beating reigning world champion Zhu lin. In June 2010, she was ranked world number 3 and climbed to 2nd place in July 2010. In 2014, she won the China Open in April 2015, Nehwal was at the top of the summit.
An exalted nation awarded him the Arjuna, Khel Ratna, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards in quick succession. A commuter, who remained in the top ten for almost 11 years, became a hit with advertisers as she was roped for 17 high-paying endorsements, wrote two books about her exploits and had a biopic done on her life. She was also probably the richest badminton player in history when she was in her prime. Fantastic life no matter what you look like.
In a way a philanthropist, Nehwal’s is 18th on the list of the most charitable athletes in the world. She reportedly won more titles and medals, but injuries hampered her progress. She missed the 2014 CWG games with a foot injury. She missed most of the 2020 and 2021 season either for tournament cancellations due to Covid or because she was injured. His biggest problem was Planter’s fasciitis, a medical condition that affects the legs, especially the heels of the foot. She is now 31 years old; obviously she can’t play like a teenager. The wear was to come, wreak havoc on his body.
She competed in the Uber Cup and other tournaments in Europe last year and had to concede games due to groin and foot injuries. She could not play the tournaments in Asia also when the international badminton caravan moved there for 6 events including the world championship. Rumor has it that she just isn’t thinking about retiring anytime soon and, like her idol Roger Federer, she wants to play until the Paris 2024 Games. It’s a good two years away.
“Age is just a number. Saina knows how to win. It’s what she feels that matters. She has had a most extraordinary career. She has been among the top ten players for almost 11 years. Very very consistent. A great champion. She knows her body, how it behaves, when to train, when to rest. If she wants to play in Paris, then we should welcome her decision. Her fitness is her problem and she knows how to stay in shape and keep playing tournaments, ”said the nine-time former national champion Popat.
Popat believes that one of Nehwal’s great qualities is his ability to learn quickly. She adapts very quickly to the changing pace of the match: learns from her mistakes and doesn’t repeat them. “I faced her in the 2006 national championship final and beat her to win my ninth title. That same year, she won the Philippine Open and has never looked back. She wasn’t a natural net player, but within a few years she was one of the best net players in the world. In conclusion, I will say that when it comes to her future, let her decide. Saina will make the right decision. “
However, it is clear that this great champion is at a crossroads. The past two years have been a nightmare. Assaulted with injuries and the schedule of the BWF affected several times by the Covid, she had not been able to play as she liked. She lost in the first or second round, which had never happened before. Until 2018, she had successfully defeated PV Sindhu. In the Commonwealth Games and the Indian National Championships, Nehwal had beaten Sindhu.
And the nightmare continued for her in 2022 as well. In the first round of the Indian Open in Delhi, she claimed a 22-20 victory in the first match against her barely known opponent Tereza Svabikova (retired injured in the second match).
But then came a shock when the mighty Nehwal obediently lost to Malvika Bansod 17-21, 9-21 in the second round. Bansod is a young Indian player in the making. What to do with this score? Where is she going from here?
Nehwal clearly has to do some soul searching to see where she is headed.
It is clear that his body is not responding to commands given to it by the brain. We can fight everything but not the ravages of paternal time. She was a real ziddi player, ready to chase the bird to hell and come back. But today the body, which moved effortlessly, sliding on the ground like on ball bearings, is slow and sluggish. Her fans, including this writer, would love to see her always at her best, the frown on her face as she ponders what the opponent will do next, her badminton computer working overtime, so slowly, but surely, its hold on procedure has created a flaw. in the results she wanted.
Well, it’s her decision of what she wants to do regarding her career. But a real legend is one who retires at the right time to make people ask why you retired, rather than wondering when will you retire?
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