Rejuvenated Saina finds her rhythm

With her eyes fixated on the lofted shuttle, Saina Nehwal took two steps back to get into the perfect position. And thwack! Down came the racquet, striking the bird hard and sending it crashing into the opposite end of the court.

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Still not at her best but the Indian badminton superstar showed enough glimpses of her glorious past on Tuesday to earn a significant 21-19, 21-9 victory in 38 minutes over Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the opening round of the BWF World Championships. The win was crucial, given how Saina’s victory count has shrunk in the recent past. Her two victories at the Singapore Open in July were the first time since March 2021 that the 32-year-old had won successive matches.

But at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Saina moved well, attacked the net, didn’t look in any discomfort and displayed the range of shots that made her the only Indian female to be ranked world No 1. Saina kept the rallies short, not allowing the tricky Hong Kong shuttler to display her range of shots to tire her out—apparent in the score. Whenever Cheung tried to be aggressive, Saina used her experience to slow down the game, finishing off the contest with a lovely cross-court drop.

"It was a good start although she could have been better, especially in the first game. She got her in the second. It was important to get a little bit into the rhythm,” Saina’s husband and coach Parupalli Kashyap said from Tokyo.

Injuries and niggles

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion suffered knee trauma and a groin injury last year which also forced her out of the 2021 World Championships.

On the comeback trail this year, Saina struggled initially but slowly started hitting form, manifested in her battle against reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi at the All England Open in March where she almost beat the Japanese. Last month, the world No 33 beat China’s He Bingjiao—her first triumph over a top-10 player since January 2020.

“Her knee is getting better. It (knee trauma) will never completely go but she’s recovering. It is cartilage degeneration that an athlete suffers due to wear and tear for 15-20 years. You just have to find your way around it with strength and conditioning, managing the load on muscles, training according to the basic abilities of an athlete,” said Kashyap, who won the Commonwealth Games men’s singles gold in Glasgow 2014.

“The niggles slowed her down in the last year but now she’s able to reach a good level in training. At least she tries to. We are now experienced players. It is important to understand how she is feeling, and what all she is able to do. Importantly, the knee is not hurting. Her training schedule has been different (from the past). She is getting there.”

Upset about not being selected for the Commonwealth Games, Saina channelised her energies and used that period—when her colleagues battled in Birmingham—to improve her fitness and prepare for the World Championships, where she has medalled twice in the past. The first Indian to reach the final of the World Championships in 2015, Saina was also critical of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) the way they selected the team for the Commonwealth Games.

“It was decent preparation for about 5-6 weeks. She could train a little more than before this time due to the break. She has been focused. Missing out on the Commonwealth Games... it will always be there, it won’t go. But it’s not as if she’s extremely disappointed or anything. It is in the past now,” added Kashyap, a former world No 6.

After earning her fourth victory in five meetings against Cheung, fortune has favoured Saina, who received a walkover in the Round of 32 after former world champion and sixth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan withdrew due to injury. The Indian will get time to recuperate with a day’s break and then face the winner of the match between German Yvonne Li and Thai 12th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the last 16.

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