The racquet sport of the 17th century has suddenly reached its pinnacle here in India after an ace Indian shuttler made India proud becoming the first ever Indian to win a super series tournament. Indeed I’m talking about the 20-year-old India’s badminton prospect, Saina Nehwal. Gaining momentum from the three super series wins in a row, she looked confident and in high spirits. She in fact took a big leap forward realizing her dream to become the world number one player, after landing at her career best third in the world rankings recently. She also enjoys the privilege of being the first ever Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the prestigious All England super series championships.
If Saina battles it out on the badminton court against the world’s best players, it has been no less a battle for her father to let her do the same. Both Saina and her family have sacrificed a lot of pleasures and luxury to attain such a competitive and a commanding position in World Badminton. It is a very rare occasion wherein a middle class family would spend more than half of their monthly income to train an 8-year old kid on Badminton without even knowing if it would pay off in the early stages. The gamble for sure had paid-off now in a big way. But the BPCL support late in 2004 had helped her to come out of the financial crunch and ultimately, she was spotted by Mittal Sports Trust in December, 2005. Everything is favoring this 20-year-old Hyderabadi girl and success too seems to have been smitten by her!
Badminton in India has never been this great or has not drawn its due attention after its former greats and Padma Shri awardees Prakash Padkone and Pullela GopiChand left the game. GopiChand is now a very renowned coach who received the Dronacharya Award and is the main force behind the emergence of Saina Nehwal. Saina's rise follows back-to-back title triumphs at the India Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series respectively. It took a complete changeover right from her position to her footwork once she joined the GopiChand academy of Badminton. Saina is now the face of badminton today, having taken over from where her mentor GopiChand had left it. She is clearly raising the bar, going places!
Her strategy of slicing the shuttlecock to perfection helped her earn valuable points deceiving her opponents at crucial junctures. The slicing of the shuttlecock is very difficult to react to as it follows a curved path rolling in the air and the deceleration imparted due to the slicing causes the sliced strokes to slow down suddenly and hence put the opponents on the back foot. Her spinning net shot or the tumbling net shot stayed some of the attacking weapons to her already strong arsenal.
This lady is making it big in the International arena and is striving hard to reach the number one spot. So far India’s best has been World’s best. Its true in Chess, its true in Cricket and sooner will she prove her mettle and stamp India’s name on this racquet game, Badminton!! And she has got more good news coming her way and the most recent news being that Saina Nehwal has been offered a police officer’s job by the Haryana Government. So far outstanding sportspersons at the national and international levels had been appointed in this category and that too directly to the level of Deputy Superintendent of Police. So DSP Saina Nehwal on the making ??
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