Indian Ladies Shuttlers Will Make Sturdy Comeback: Saina Nehwal
The battle of Indian girls shuttlers within the BWF circuit is kind of obvious however Saina Nehwal has backed her colleagues by saying that even the robust Chinese language gamers are discovering it tough to dish out robust performances on a constant foundation and hoped that the lean patch of the singles gamers will finish quickly. In contrasting performances within the final one 12 months, India’s male gamers have reworked right into a world-conquering unit whereas the ladies shuttlers are struggling to go deep into the attracts. In 15 tournaments that PV Sindhu has competed on this 12 months, she couldn’t transcend the second rounds in 10 occasions. Seven of them had been first-round exits.
Ending runner-up on the Madrid Masters in March and reaching the semifinals on the Canada Open in July have been the perfect outcomes for the nation’s high shuttler in 2023.
“Yearly isn’t the identical. Typically there are ups and downs. If you happen to have a look at the Chinese language girls gamers, their efficiency in latest occasions has additionally not been excellent. They too should not in a position to carry out the best way the Korean gamers or Tai-Tzu Ying and different gamers are performing,” Saina advised PTI-Bhasha in an interview.
A have a look at the data of high Chinese language gamers reveals that world No.3 Chinese language Chen Yu Fei may attain the title spherical solely twice in 11 tournaments and bagged one title in 2023 whereas world No.5 He Bing Jiao performed 13 occasions and completed runner-up on two events.
India’s Ashmita Chaliha has performed eight tournaments and suffered both first or second-round exits. She gained the low-tier Maldives Worldwide.
In 15 tournaments, Aakarshi Kashyap made 11 first-round exits.
“There’s a slight drop in efficiency among the many girls gamers however I’m certain, sooner or later, we are going to obtain good outcomes,” hoped Saina.
In distinction, the lads’s gamers gained a historic title on the Thomas Cup final 12 months and the lads’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty turned the primary Indian pair to succeed in No.1 in world rankings after profitable the nation’s first gold medal within the just lately concluded Asian Video games.
The pair additionally turned the primary Indians to win a BWF Tremendous 1000 event. HS Prannoy gained a bronze medal within the males’s singles within the Asian Video games. Aside from this, many gamers gained particular person titles.
The Indian girls’s crew misplaced within the quarter-finals within the Asian Video games whereas there was no medal within the particular person class both.
Saina acknowledged the nice run by the male shuttlers.
“The outcomes have been good, badminton has progressed lots within the final 10 years. There’s confidence among the many folks, there may be confidence among the many gamers that we are able to obtain good outcomes on the high stage.
“Now, we now have even gained gold medals in Thomas Cup and the Asian Video games. Badminton is progressing very quick. Our present gamers are enjoying very properly and lots of budding gamers are additionally coming by means of, which, I’m certain, makes the way forward for badminton excellent.” Saina, who has been troubled by a knee problem, herself has not been in a position to transcend the second spherical in any event this 12 months. She has not performed in any event since June however asserted that she doesn’t have retirement on her thoughts.
“I’ve not considered retirement but. There’s a little drawback with the knee, my focus is on that. If this will get mounted, I can put extra effort into my recreation. I’ve been enjoying badminton for a few years.
“I like this recreation very a lot. Let’s examine what number of extra years I can play,” stated Saina who has slipped to fifty fifth place on this planet rankings.
The qualification interval for the Paris Olympics is underway with about seven months left. It appears Saina in all probability doesn’t have Olympic qualification in her thoughts.
“When you might have been enjoying for therefore a few years, you begin loving the sport. My purpose is not only to play within the Olympics. Proper now, my solely goal is to coach properly and play in some good tournaments.
“I’ve performed within the Olympics many occasions earlier than, so proper now my focus is on recovering fully and enjoying within the event. As soon as my knee harm heals fully, I can begin correct coaching, that is my purpose proper now.” Saina spoke extremely of the initiative taken by former gamers Vijay Lancy and Anup Sridhar, who’ve opened 15 coaching centres — Badminton Professionals — for budding gamers.
Saina, her husband Parupalli Kashyap, and RMV Gurusaidutt have been roped in as mentors.
“My job as a mentor is to offer recommendation to the gamers. I give them recommendation primarily based on my profession expertise and the way I turned a champion,” she stated including that she isn’t taking a look at full-time teaching.
“If enjoying is 100% contribution then teaching is 200% effort. I have not thought a lot about it but. I want to work as a mentor with gamers as a result of badminton has given me lots and I want to contribute in making this recreation extra fashionable.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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