Stop mocking: Saina Nehwal's as good as gold for India
There is no shame in losing a final. There is certainly no shame in returning with a silver medal from the biggest of world stages. Thanks Saina Nehwal for giving us a proud moment and becoming the first from the country to achieve this phenomenal feat!
Cynics, however, will harp on Saina's fragility in winning major events, and even point to her new "mental block" in overcoming Spanish wonder girl Carolina Marin. They will jolly well forget that Saina has an Olympic medal. They will judge without analysing her impact on Indian and international sport.
When I congratulated Saina after her return from Jakarta, I could see she has got her old fire back. Having closely followed Saina's evolution from a reticent teen shuttler with boyish haircut, less on talent but burning with desire to be the best, to becoming a Chinese nemesis and ushering in a revolution in sport in India, I can say that it is her mental strength and perseverance that has taken her so far.
Here's why her recent feat needs to be acknowledged. The badminton world championships started in 1977 and no Indian before her - not even the legendary Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand - had ever reached the final of the elite event. Indian shuttlers had only claimed four bronze medals, starting with Padukone in 1983.
This time around, Saina has broken a barrier, the way she has always done in her career. Just to illustrate the quirky nature of sport, let me here refer to the venerable shuttler Morten Frost. From winning the prestigious All England title four times to being the World No 1 for a long haul, the Dane dominated the sport like a champion. But he could never become a "world champion". Twice he lost in the finals of the IBF world championships, which unfortunately for him was held every three years then unlike every year, except an Olympic year, now. Does it make him a lesser mortal? No. He is remembered for the way he and Padukone challenged the Chinese surge in the sport in the '80s.
No individual is perfect, and no sportsperson ever will be. Why does our heart beat for Roger Federer even when he loses? Federer is "the all-time best" in tennis. Period. That is the impact Federer has had on tennis. Even if Federer doesn't add to his Grand Slam trophies, he will remain "the best ever" until his genius is surpassed.
Now let me come back to Saina. Hailing from a middle class family, she got into the sport casually as her mother had played at some level and she found it interesting. There was nothing exceptional in her skills as a badminton player. In fact, she is humble enough to admit that she was not naturally talented for the racquet sport, as some other girls of her age. She neither had the deception Indian players are known for nor was she one of the best movers on the court. "I have to keep practicing my strokes because sometimes I forget my strokes. Unfortunately, I am not very good with the wrist like many other talented players so I have to work harder," she once said.
But she was blessed with a quality very rare in Indian sportspersons. She was resolute. She could withstand a storm and still look into her opponents' eye on a badminton court. She was dogged, determined to be the winner. She was a fighter to the core. Over the years, she has built a strong all-around game and genuinely believes that nobody is unbeatable. Her coach in formative years, the renowned SM Arif, knew he was handling a special talent.
I still remember the day when she beat Aparna Popat in the national capital in 2005. For players of Saina's age, all of 15 then, even to stand in front of Aparna across the net, would require courage. Aparna, the gifted nine-time and then reigning national champion, had beaten Saina twice before. This time Saina was not prepared to be the second best. She got third time lucky, smashing the pulp out of Aparna in an incredible fashion as a handful of us stood transfixed at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. She dictated with an unbelievable spirit to be the best that day. There was no fear of failure. It gave Saina her first international title- the Asian Satellite.
When she beat Wang Yihan at the world championships quarter-final, the stage where she had bowed out five times in the past, Saina was playing with her trademark resolve. Those questioning her mental ability should know that crossing such barriers needs loads of belief in one's ability.
Her current coach Vimal Kumar never gets tired of giving an example that defines Saina for him. In the 2006 Commonwealth Games, 16-year-old Saina was representing India for the first time and took the task of beating Singapore's Li Li and England's Tracey Hallam, the reigning gold and silver medallist respectively, to win India a bronze medal in mixed team event. Thereafter, Saina rapidly emerged as the giant killer of world badminton, shredding reputations at will, bagging titles and challenged the Chinese domination a la Padukone. She provided that spark of inspiration to others fighting the battle against the Chinese players.
India is nowhere close to the infrastructure and facilities China provides to its athletes. So let's stop comparing ourselves with the Chinese. Saina though has never complained of training facilities at home and made the best of what she has got. Saina's strict adherence to her training regime, hard work and discipline has motivated her peers at the academy. The likes of Parupalli Kashyap, PV Sindhu, K Srikanth, HS Prannoy would vouch for the effort she puts in training, never missing a session, never digressing from the torturous routine, day after day, year after year.
Therefore, credit goes to her for changing the contours of Indian badminton with her stoic pursuit of excellence. Thanks to her effort, now we are aspiring to become world and Olympic champions in the sport.
Let's celebrate and cheer every moment of Saina Nehwal as she prepares for the next big challenge - next year's Rio Olympics.