Badminton Queen of India Saina Nehwal (24 page)

Saina’s Best Friend – Dedication

The top ranked badminton player Saina Nehwal and winner of many Super Series tournaments in succession consider ‘dedication’ as her best friend. She is clear about the fact that all of her victories and trophies have been possible due to her dedication to the sport. It was her unwavering faith and dedication to the game that made her win gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Saina’s mentor and coach Pullela Gopichand is with her since 2004. She first met him at his academy, the Gopichand Badminton Academy at the age of 13. According to Saina, he helped her improve badminton skills via improving strokes, speed and mental fitness. Within a year of joining the academy, she started playing international tournaments. Saina believes in staying focused and not getting carried away by the success, laurels and praises showered after winning tournaments. According to her, she must have been a Spartan warrior in previous birth. She is sure about it because Spartans were taught to fight till they died, right from the time they were born. In 480 B.C. a 1,000-strong army of Greeks led by 300 Spartans defended the pass of Thermopylae against a Persian Army that was at least ten times that size.

Nehwal feels that she would have fit right in with the best of them. Her dedication to her the sport is unrelenting. She started training at the age of eight and has been at it for the past 14 years. Her major goal is to win an Olympic gold.

Nehwal is doing everything she can to keep herself ahead of her competitors. She trains for over ten hours a day without fail. It is very hard to believe for many people but she doesn’t have life outside of badminton. She hardly eats junk food, doesn’t have any friends outside the ones she meets at the Gopichand Badminton Academy where she trains, and doesn’t shop or go out much.

But the girl doesn’t regret it. She says that all sportspersons have lived life like that. The only friend they have is their dedication to sports. This girl knows that it takes a lot to be a champion. She also refers that Sachin Tendulkar, Roger Federer, and many other sports personalities have lived their life that way.

When it comes to dedication of Saina Nehwal to sports, her coach and mentor Pullela Gopichand recounts an incident after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They were on their way back and Saina was crying. He tried to lighten the mood but it didn’t work. Then, he told her that they would start practising the next day at 6 a.m. to shock her out if it. He meant it in jest but the girl’s answer shocked him. She looked at Gopichand and said, “Sir, can we please start at 7 instead of 6?” Gopichand was astounded to see the kind of dedication this young girl carried for badminton.

Within a few years of playing elevated her from number 140 to number 4. She firmly believes that she is a champion and loves all the attention she gets due to the sport. Her happiness lies in her fans admiration and kids who look up to her as an icon.

But how could the media stay away from this determined and dedicated girl? It compared her to Sania Mirza which was inevitable. After all, the two are female youth icons who have made it big in their respective fields. The fans adore them.

But Saina feels that the comparison is not justifiable. According to Saina, the comparison is fair if both the players are World No 2. She feels that Sania does really well in doubles but not in singles. Saina takes immense pride in winning four Super Series’ which is the equivalent to Grand Slams. On the other hand, Sania hasn’t won a single one. So, she feels there is no question of comparison. To end the comparison, Saina mentions her gold at the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Her rise to the top has a lot to do with dedication. Bharat Petroleum has been sponsoring her since 2004. She holds a job as a deputy manager with them. In 2005, the Mittal Champions Trust under Manisha Malhotra sponsored her and that allowed her to participate in any tournament she wanted for the next four years without worrying about money. Since 2009, she’s been handled by Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures who look after her endorsement deals (she reportedly gets Rs. 1 crore a deal).

Her mother always knew Saina had it in her to make it big since a long time. She made sure that Saina train really hard. As a kid, Saina had to stay back an extra hour after all the other kids had left to play three extra rallies with fresh players. And that has held her in good stead since then.

Her mother noticed the dedication of her child for badminton since she was six months old. The game made her so happy that she used to burst into maniacal laughter. The shuttlecock being hit back and forth made her happy. This incident scared her a lot.

And her mother also made sure that she trained hard. She also mentions that in today’s time, Saina leaves the moment her coach asks to.

Now, the question is whether or not there will be another Saina in the world of badminton. The fans may or may not give a positive answer to this but Saina Nehwal is sure. She feels that there won’t be another Saina as one needs to train really hard to be like her. She has the capacity and willpower to go on for the whole day but most girls today are very lazy. They will never do it.

What Others Say about
Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal has made India proud. She has thousanads of fans in nationwide and abroad. In fact, the best of players and the legends (from the field of sports and many others) appreciate her hard work and invincible skills.

So, what do the legends have to say about her? Let’s hear it from the legends themselves.

The yesteryear legend of the cricket Kapil Dev is a candid admirer of Saina Nehwal.

“I’m looking forward to shaking Saina’s hand. In fact, I would have done so even if she didn’t get the bronze. I’d still give her 100 out of 100 for reaching the last-four of such a huge event.”

“What’s remarkable is that Saina has raised the bar for Indian women. I don’t think there are more than a few hundred women shuttlers of quality in the country, compared to thousands in China, but there’s going to be a boom now... Saina’s a new age-woman... Gifted and so successful.”

– Kapil Dev

England’s chief coach Jokob Hoi has admired Saina for her unsurpassed skill and invincible quality to give her best to a tournament.

“Saina has a very solid game and she sticks to the basics. She recovers well, does not pressurise herself, has strong arms and thighs which are very important for this sport.”

“Saina is not afraid to create chances. She knows how to create chances like which shot to take when during a match. She is not afraid to take the initiative which is in the case with many Indian shuttlers. For example, she knows she is not the best at the net but still knows how to tackle drops. Her smashes are not scary but are always very accurate. Overall, she has a very good game.”

“Her fitness is great and her ability to manoeuvre around the court is also good. She has the deception in her game and her overall stroke play is great, committing lesser mistakes. I have a lot of respect for her.”

– Jokob Hoi

The God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar is full of praise for Saina. Once, heaping praises on Saina, Tendulkar said:

“Whatever I have seen of her there is no drama involved, it’s just quality badminton and that is what you expect from a sportsperson. After winning (bronze medal) also, she has not got carried away and that’s the beauty of being a champion sportperson. Saina gave India it’s first-ever medal in badminton at Olympics when her Chinese opponent withdrew from the bronze medal play-off after injuring her knee. This medal means a lot for India, I am sure this medal has not come without dedication, hard work, focus, and having a vision.”

– Sachin Tendulkar

Coach and mentor Saina Nehwal for a very long time, Gopichand is always full of praises for his student.

“She has a lot more belief in her and the desire to win is very-very intense. Not many players have that kind of huge desire to win.”

– Pullela Gopichand

Indian all-time great and All England champion in 1980 Prakash Padukone is proud of Saina. He has seen her playing against the fierce Chinese players and admires ‘never say die spirit’.

“She is the most complete woman shuttler in the world now.”

– Prakash Padukone

Chairman and managing director of Rhiti Sports Arun Pandey undertakes great pride in having Saina as their brand ambassador.

“We are delighted to have Saina on board, who has brought great pride to the nation with her exploits. We are proud to be associated with someone who is not only a youth icon for women in the country but has also done a lot for Badminton as a sport.”

– Arun Pandey

The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh honoured Saina’s patriotic spirit by congratulating Nehwal on her victories.

“Saina’s victory is a milestone for Indian sports.”

– Dr. Manmohan Singh

The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is a huge fan of Saina Nehwal.

“Saina has done the country proud and I want her to prosper in life.”

– Mulayam Singh Yadav

Saina’s victory at the Indonesian Open Super Series was a grand vent. It was memorable for the entire country. The Bollywood was jubiliant and couldn’t resist congratulating her. The entire Bollywood brigade took to microblogging site Twitter to shower praise on the 20-year-old sports sensation. Bollywood stars tweeted praise as Saina Nehwal completed a stupendous hat-trick of badminton titles and made the world take notice of her.

The actor Anupam Kher loves sports and congratulated Saina:

“Saina is the most focused sportsperson in the country today. And it shows. Hope the advertising world doesn’t take over her life and game.”

– Anupam Kher

Saina’s third successive title after winning the Indian Open Grand Prix and Singapore Open made Sikander Kher (actor Anupam Kher’s son) emotional. He cheered Saina by writing:
“GO SAINA!!!”

– Sikander Kher

Abhishek Bachchan likes Saina’s spirit and makes it a point to congratulate her by tweeting text messges:

“Saina congratulation!! Way to go girl!”

– Abhishek Bachchan

Riteish likes to watch Saina’s tournaments and championships. He makes it a point to catch up with her tournaments whenever he gets time.

“SAINA – truly a remarkable feat – congratulations!”

– Riteish Deshmukh

This talented actor Rahul Bose is also a former member of the Indian rugby team. He likes the way Saina plays. He feels that her amazing spirit to win and do her best in the court has always done the nation proud.

“Fantastic for Saina. If you read about her you get to know the massive hard work and sacrifice she and her family have put in.”

– Rahul Bose

The beautiful actress Shilpa Shetty is into sports with her tryst with IPL off late. She likes Saina and appreciates her dedication to Badminton. She feels that the young girl has made the nation proud.

“So happy to see Saina win the Indonesian Cup. Good to see girls from our country come up in the world of sports. Heart swells with pride. U (You) go girl!”

– Shilpa Shetty

The actor, director and producer Karan Johar had admitted his passiveness towards badminton. The filmmaker is a huge fan of Saina.

“Kudos to Saina Nehwal!! Not that I follow badminton, but just watching the pride on her parents’ face was beyond victory! You go girl!”

– Karan Johar

The Chinese female players have always been known for their fierce way of playing badminton and incredible strategies they apply to win over the best players across the globe. Li Yongbo, China’s head coach has seen Nehwal playing and could make out the fire within the girl.

“Nehwal posed a big challenge to Wang Xin and she is a strong player. She did a very good job. I agree that in the women’s singles more foreign players are doing better than before.”

– Li Yongbo - China’s head coach