“Why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up”
This immortal line from Batman Begins, released in 2005 still holds good for anyone who is facing adversity at present. It’s a line which in the present Olympic contingent one athlete will relate to very well.
Saina Nehwal is down. Down physically and down in her game. Touted as one of the biggest medal contenders at the Rio Olympics, the 26-year-old went to Brazil as perhaps the most pressured athlete, thanks to the plethora of expectations from all corners, who felt that if there was one shuttler in the seven-member badminton contingent who had the best chance to win a medal, it was her.
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But sportspersons don’t win medals depending who is cheering for them or how many are cheering for them. They win medals by competing and beating the best in the business.
In her opening Group match, Saina looked nervy. She lacked the pace and struggled, particularly at the start of both the games.She managed to pull through in the end 21-17 21-17, but whoever saw the match would say it wasn’t the most comfortable of victories.
The frailties in her fitness were on show in the following game against Maria Ulitina as Saina found it extremely hard to retrieve the shuttle and also found it hard to move around the court, eventually falling in straight games 21-18 21-19 to not just lose the match but also bow out from the Olympics in the group stage.
A year of disappointment ends with a disaster
August 16th 2015. The venue was Jakarta and Saina Nehwal was in the World Championships final, competing against Carolina Marin of Spain. This is their second meeting inside 6 months, the last one coming in March at the All England Championships where she lost in three games.
Saina was coming into the final on the back of a fine round robin and knockout stage, where she had defeated a range of top players, including long-time nemesis Wang Yihan in the quarters.
It was Saina’s 1st final appearance at the World Championships and she had the country backing her to the hilt. The opening game began on a keen note as both players exchanged leads but it was following the interval, that the Spaniard started to steadily gain control of proceedings, getting her executions spot on as Saina failed to hold on under pressure and eventually lost the game 16-21.
The second game saw the Indian take control early on but the tide shifted in Marin’s favour, soon and from being 10-12 down, the Spaniard made a spirited fightback, winning 11 out of the next 18 points to win the game 21-19 and with that defending her World Championships title with great success.
Despite the loss,however, Saina regained the top spot in the world rankings, something that she had achieved earlier in the year in April, as she had put in a much better performance since the last World Championships, here.
The expectations from the Indian only rose from the shuttler’s end following that win and expectedly so.
However, little did anyone know that was to be the start of a slide in form and fitness for the shuttler and eventually would culminate in the loss at the Olympics.
In her first event after the World Championships, she was knocked out in the second round. Another second round exit followed in the Denmark Open. Quarterfinalist at the French Open. Finals at the China Open, her best result since August 2015 and finally a Group stage exit at the Superseries Finals ended a disappointing few months to 2015.
A knee injury first followed by the Achilles tendon meant that the Indian had lost considerable sting in her game and by no means was at her best.
2016 began on a dampener for her as she missed the 1st three months of action before playing at the All England Open and bowing out in the quarterfinal stage. Her fitness showed signs of improvement slowly, entering the semifinals in Malaysia Open, India Open, Swiss Open, Asian Championships, Thomas and Uber Cup before eventually winning in Australia, a victory that many felt had come at the right time.
Arriving at the Olympic village after a two-month gap, it was felt by many that Saina was close to 100% fit if not fully, and so progress, at least till the quarters seemed on the lines. However, it was not to be and on a Sunday night, when the sun had set, the chances of one of India’s top medal contenders had gone as well.
Is there light again at the end of the tunnel?
Like was the case in 2014 when Saina had gone through a slump in form, a similar situation is in front of her. While her form is a bit better than then, fitness-wise she faces a real challenge.
Let’s not forget that she is still ranked 5th in the world and so has no reason to believe that she can’t get to the top again. It will,however, depend on how fast she recovers and resumes practice and subsequently, starts competing. That is upto Vimal Kumar and Co. to ensure that the shuttler recovers quickly and is back to playing her best soon.
