• Home

Super Saina is numero uno

India’s badminton ace Saina Nehwal has silenced all her critics. But more important, she seems to have finally conquered all her inner demons. After years of being in the top 10 of the game, the 25-year-old has made it to the numero uno position in the global rankings. Last week was also when she breached another barrier when she categorically won the Indian badminton Super Series, something that has been eluding her for a long time. As they say, the winner takes it all.

Sometimes our best moments come after our darkest hours. You have to just have the patience, the determination and the faith in yourself that things will eventually fall in place.

When she returned home defeated at last year’s World Championships, badminton ace Saina Nehwal had contemplated quitting the game, unable to cope with the disappointment but the sportsperson inside her could not call it quits and so she persisted and got right back into training under the watchful eyes of her coach, Vimal Kumar.

Last weekend all of that hard work paid off when she was landed not one but two precious rewards for herself in the form of achieving the coveted world number one ranking in badminton and winning the elusive India Super Series Title. And when it happened, it was a long cherished dream come true. At just 25, Saina Nehwal is every woman’s role model, proof of the fact that an undying spirit and the ability to work harder at defeating one’s inner demons will always bear fruit. When she stormed the World Number One title last Saturday, she became the first Indian woman to ever get to the title. And, she was getting that title 35 years after another sterling young man, badminton legend Prakash Padukone, won the title all those years ago in England. What a fulfilling journey it has been for the young woman who was last ranked number 2 over five years ago and has been battling doubts about her her abilities after she failed to win the finals at the All England Championships in February this year.

But the feisty sportsperson is nowhere near satisfied with what she has achieved. “No doubt this is the best phase of my life,” she said last weekend. “ I had a dream and I have achieved that.” But I need more titles, the more I win, the hungrier I get.”

Not many know that becoming a tennis ace was not Saina’s dream. It was her mother’s dream to see her play the game and get to the top and such is her faith in her daughter’s ability to deliver that last year, she packed her bags and shifted from the comfort of their home in Hyderabad to Bangalore where she shared a dormitory room with her Saina while she perfected her game with her coach.

“When I joined the sport, I never thought of becoming world no. 1. It was only my mom’s dream.

Which is why she left nothing unturned to get to the top. For months now her routine has been excruciating — four hours on the court under the coach’s watchful eyes and four hours in the gym, building up her endurance. No social life, no parties, no restaurant food. Just a movie a week to take her mind off the game and her music to keep her company in the dormitory.

Only the tough even dare to set out on this journey and only a handful make it to the top which is a solitary place to be. But some people are just destined to get there and stay there a long time. We wish her all the best in her future journey.

—  sudhamenon2006@gmail.com