Saina Nehwal rates her win over Wang Yihan at the World Championships higher than her victory over the same opponent at the All England earlier this year. (Source: PTI) A week after she bagged the silver medal at the World Championships, Saina Nehwal looks back at the gloom that surrounded her last year and what all went into beating arch enemy Yihan Wang and crossing the World Championships quarterfinal hurdle at Jakarta. The world No 1 is also confident that she'll come back stronger with answers to the challenge that Carolina Marin poses. Excerpts from an interview.
Quarterfinals of the World Championship (a threshold Saina Nehwal had never crossed before) against Yihan Wang (a player who had always beaten her soundly). How was Jakarta different from previous times?
I'd lost so many times in the quarters of the World Championships that it was not just relief but a huge thrill to overcome that jinx. The last few times I had lost to Yihan Wang, I had made small but crucial errors in the last few points. But this time at the same stage, I had a few extraordinary rallies. At the All England, she'd not been moving well, so I won't count that win as major. But here it was a bigger challenge as she was picking shuttles and retrieving everything. I just had to prolong the rallies. She had pulled out the second set, and it wasn't easy at all being two points down at 16-18 in the decider. But I stayed relaxed. I usually rush at this stage and mess up, but I was very calm this time. I kept moving her around and could play the big shots at the crucial juncture which I'd never managed earlier.
Tell us about how you got into a rut in Hyderabad.
It's been very tough. My coaches, parents have put in a lot of effort, too, before making this happen. Thing is I started performing early, getting results at the international level at age 15-16. Hyderabad was a good place to take me from an OK level to a good level. But I wasn't going beyond good, that was not happening. I would win three tournaments in a row and then lose badly in the next few. I wasn't winning regularly enough. 2010 was good, '11 not, '12 was, but '13 not. In 2013, I'd been struggling against all sorts of players.
Why did you find it to be such an urgent need to leave Hyderabad?
I understand it is very tough for Gopi Sir to give attention to many players. But I was World No 2 and I needed someone who could push me to World No 1. After Olympics, people had started criticising me, and fellow sportsmen had started doubting my ability and motivation. My performances were not good and I understand why there were questions in everyone's minds. I wasn't feeling right about the situation and my game wasn't improving. I went to the Uber Cup where Vimal Sir's tips helped me, but then the next three weeks in Hyderabad again I felt my game was stagnating. He helped me again at the Australian Open. I'd lose to Xuerui Li (Olympic champ) again. Thing is I wanted to at least give a fight, take it to three games. At the World Championships, my movements were weak. I couldn't come out of tricky situations. I knew I had to do something.
Did you doubt your decision to move at any point?
Sometimes in life you have to take a risk. I know many people were against that decision. But I was emotionally happy in Bangalore when I trained hard, and within two weeks the results were there to see. I gave Yihan a tough fight at the Asian Games after a long time in three sets. I beat Ratchanok (Intanon) and almost everyone at Uber Cup, won China Open, reached semis of Dubai Super Series Finals. It felt good to be not losing all the time. I believed in Vimal Sir. After all the sacrifice, when results started coming, it was satisfactory. Last one year has gone so fast, it means I've been happy.
What were the thoughts going on in your head when you packed your bags?
I was just very upset with my performance at last year's World Championships. I was angry with myself and frustrated because I didn't know why I was losing. I was not thinking about Gopi sir or Vimal sir or anyone else. I just wanted my game to be the best it could be when I left Hyderabad. Sometimes you just have to get very stubborn about your decisions. Otherwise I was anyway losing. Vimal Sir could give me more than 100 per cent and I'm grateful about that.
What went so wrong in the final in Jakarta?
Carolina's improved a lot since the first few times I played her. At the India Open too, it was a close three-setter and at the All England and the Worlds she's beaten me now. In Jakarta, in the second game, I made a silly service error at 18-17 and it was an easy cross-court for her. Then I made a horrible line judgment, it was something I shouldn't have. I was overwhelmed by crossing the quarterfinals at the Worlds since it had been a jinx. I definitely should have put in a little bit of extra effort into the final three points of the second set. In the third game, you never know. It had already been close to an hour by the time of the third set, and she was tiring. Had it been longer, I could have fought back. But I didn't do enough to take it into the decider.
How will you deal with the Marin challenge?
I'll definitely end up playing her many times before the Olympics. She's a big challenge and I have to find ways to deal with her. Typically, she's quick and comes at the net very hard. Whenever you try to set yourself a comfortable pace against her, she'll suddenly attack you at the net. I need to be a little more aggressive.
Why was Yihan such a big demon in your career?
Yihan has been a very difficult opponent for me. She started almost same as me, and has always bothered me. She might again come back to her old form. She's handed me some very bad losses, and beaten me comfortably in the past. This time I was able to make her move. Like Carolina, she has faster shots and I need to start making her move front and back and front. She'll be prepared, but I know I'll figure her out after playing her on a regular basis.
Just how bad can bad days get and how did you deal with the jinx?
Oh, it can become a very big burden, and push you into dark corners. People keep telling you and then you start believing yourself that you can never beat a certain player or cross the quarters, like it happened with Yihan or the Worlds. So, it's satisfying to finally beat that player and cross a hurdle. I had started feeling that I'll never be able to beat Yihan, and it's difficult to explain just how badly it can play in your head. But you always tell yourself that you are a sportsperson and your bread-butter job is to fight challenges. I'll never stop fighting. It needed me to realise that I would need to learn good strokes to put her into trouble. You can be a World No 1 and still be aware that there's everything left to do, so much to learn. That's what trying to beat Yihan Wang taught me.
Source: You can be World No 1 and still be aware that there's everything left to do: Saina Nehwal
No comments:
Post a Comment