Image Source : GETTY IMAGES Saina Nehwal
Former world No.1 Saina Nehwal goes by the hardest section of her profession and must deal with herself in order to keep away from any extra defeats, says former nationwide champion and coach U. Vimal Kumar.
Saina, at the moment ranked twentieth on the planet, was knocked out of the primary spherical of the continued second Thailand Open. She had earlier fallen within the second spherical of the primary Thailand Open, which was additionally her first event because the All England Championships in March 2020.
Kumar stated that Saina appeared “out of shape” in Thailand. “It is not going to be easy for her to bounce back. I have always said that if she has no pain, she will play well. More than the pain though she didn’t look very fit to me. Maybe after the Covid issue and all she is still recovering from it,” Kumar advised IANS.
A two-time nationwide champion, Kumar felt Saina goes by the hardest section of her profession.
“I think so. Things have not been going well for her for the past couple of years. She needs confidence to get going and the last she had a good result was in 2019 at the Indonesia Masters,” stated the person who received the nationwide title in 1988 and 1989.
“The workouts, physical training and other things have to be really specific. She has to plan all this a lot better and that is the only way she can come out of this. Losing more matches like this will affect her confidence. It is not only just physical, there is a lot of mental aspects [at play] as well. She is a strong girl but these results can affect her,” he stated.
Saina had labored with Kumar in her adolescence and later between 2014 and 2017 when she turned the primary Indian badminton participant to realize a No.1 rating and received silver on the badminton World Championships.
The Hyderabad-based Saina’s finest finishes in 2020 got here when she reached the quarter-finals within the Malaysia Masters in January and the Barcelona Masters in February. The final time she received a title was the 2019 Indonesia Masters held in January.
Saina is at the moment fifteenth within the rankings for the Tokyo Olympics. With Sindhu already ranked seventh, Saina wants to interrupt into the highest eight to qualify for the Games. The tournaments in Thailand aren’t a part of the Olympic qualifying interval, which is scheduled to begin with the Swiss Open on March 2.
“The next one or one-and-a-half months will determine her chances. The next five-six weeks will be key and give us an idea,” stated Kumar.
Kumar, nevertheless, additionally stated that the actual fact stays that whereas Saina and a lot of the Indian gamers are enjoying their first tournaments since March, when the nationwide lockdown started, lots of their opponents have had prior match follow with home championships being held in lots of international locations.
“They are all awfully short of match practice. All of them are playing after more than 10 months which is not good. [PV] Sindhu also needs more matches; it’s the only way she can get back. We have to see how things go in March when things open up,” stated Kumar
