A few thousand kilometers to the north of Rio de Janerio, the Indian Cricket Team, over the past two weeks or so, has been involved in a lopsided affair with a team representing a conglomeration of nations that are now known more for their prowess in athletics than that in cricket. The frailties of West Indies cricket, if I dare say, can be compared to the frailties that almost all other sports find themselves suffering with, in India.
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Petty politics, the lack of a proper infrastructure and just the basic shortage of funds have marred and affected many an Olympic dream, some grueling examples of which have been the recent imbroglio over Narsingh Yadav’s allegedly sabotaged dope test, Dutee Chand’s request for funds and amenities and the exclusion of Ritu Rani from the Indian Women’s Hockey Team.
While we swell our chests in the realization of the fact that over a hundred athletes from India would be representing their country in the grandest sporting carnival of them all, the stories behind each of them getting there have often been shoved to the hindsight. With a plethora of new names and only a few repeat entries, representing India in the Olympics has become akin to being a VIP at a once-in-a-blue-moon recurring event.
In such a scenario, the few prized jewels that India has, the ones who have beaten the odds, and with a tinge of luck going their way have established themselves as the select ones that a nation of over a billion people pins its hopes on, must be recognised and remembered.
Beating the odds: Saina, the two-time Olympian
Saina Nehwal is one such name. This year, she’d cement her place amidst names like Leander Paes and Abhinav Bindra, the ones who have won medals for India, and who are also the selected ones India looks up to every time they play a major sporting event. That the Haryana-born athlete is only 26 years old and the mountains that she has scaled at such a ripe age would undoubtedly add an extra bit of pressure on her shoulders when she represents India for the third time at the Olympics. In her previous two assignments, Nehwal had had a mixed bag of success and failure. However, the shuttler has at least made it to the quarter-finals during each of her essays.
At the Beijing Olympics, in 2008, the Indian missed out on a podium finish only by a whisker, as she lost to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Germany after she had defeated the then World No. 5, Wang Chen, of Hong Kong to make it to the quarters. In London, in 2012, however, Nehwal was determined enough to not let the opportunity go, as she became the first Indian shuttler to win a medal at the Olympic Games when she won the Bronze medal after China’s Wang Xin retired from the match due to an injury.
In between the two quadrennial carnivals and beyond, the Indian prodigy won several medals at different events including the Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Bronze at the 2010 Asian Championships, Bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games etc. Although, the pressure of performing consistently that was automatically built up through the heights that she scaled may as well come back to make things a bit tough for India’s golden girl.
The journey: From London 2012 to Rio 2016
However, what makes it even more agonising for her and all the more alluring for her fans back in India is her recent surge to the pinnacle of the global badminton galleries, especially in a country that is obsessed with cricket and government jobs, and that takes marks, rankings, and tags very seriously. While cricket is a topic of discussion over a cup of tea, a sportsperson not associated with cricket making it to the top of the sporting legions transcends beyond the cups of tea and becomes a moment of national honour.
Hence, when Saina Nehwal became the World No. 1 player in the BWF Women’s Singles Rankings in April 2015, she not only created history but also set the standards a notch higher, not just for herself but also for the players of her own fraternity.
The fact that this achievement came after the heartbreaking loss at the All England Championship final at the hands of Carolina Marin, thereby destroying the nation’s hopes of having its first woman All England Champion, made it all the more surreal. The Indians know that any non-cricketing sporting achievement, especially the ones garnering medals at the world level is next to a miracle for India, and this young woman’s feat had left the nation dumbfounded. A nation that takes pride in calling Sachin Tendulkar the No. 1 batsman in the history of the game had found a new No. 1, and more so, it was a girl.
The World Badminton Championship followed in August 2015, where Nehwal was bettered once again by her All England nemesis, Marin, as the Spaniard beat the Indian 21-16, 21-19 in the final. However, another silver medal to her kitty only added to the burden of expectations that was slowly mounting on her almost a year back from now. The China Open Superseries followed and Nehwal found another opponent to shatter her dreams of a Championship title, as she was defeated by Li Xuerui of China 21-12, 21-15.
However, the news back in India wasn’t just about the athlete losing in the finals. It was also about her making her way to the finals by beating women from all over the world, something that was unprecedented, as far individual sports in India are concerned.
Success in 2016
The persistence, the patience and the determination of the two-time Olympian finally bore fruits, as after a stretch that saw her coming tantalisingly close to title victories, the advent of 2016 saw her clinch another medal at the world stage when she won the Bronze at the Asian Badminton Championship held in Wuhan, China, in April this year. Her opponent in the semi-final, to whom Nehwal lost and had to settle for Bronze, Wang Yihan, was taken care of in the Australian Open in June, wherein the Indian turned the tables on the Chinese and beat her 21-8, 21-12 in the semi-final to advance to the final of the event.
Here too, Nehwal was determined to go all the way this time and was not at all ready to settle for Silver, as she then went on to defeat another Chinese, Sun Yu, 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 in a nail-biting encounter.
A 26-year-old woman from the outskirts of Haryana actually made it out of the womb of her mother and made it to all corners of the world thereafter is both an achievement and an eye-opener for Indian sports. That she would be carrying the hopes of the thousands, if not the millions, who watch sports that are not cricket would be a statement to ponder over.
Leander Paes has been the grand old man of India when it comes to the Olympics. Sania Mirza, although unassailable at times in Martina Hingis’ company, looks towards Rohan Bopanna to rework the magic. Abhinav Bindra’s 2008 glory was subdued a bit by his ouster in 2012.
But, Saina Nehwal is fresh. She comes off a Bronze medal finish in 2012 and has got several other medals behind her. Barring an injury scare, in all likelihood, the whole of India would root for her come August 11, when she starts her campaign. But, that wouldn’t only be a confident booster. While she isn’t expected to do a Tendulkar, but over the next fortnight or so, she would be responsible for carrying a part of the burden that the great man carried for over two decades.
