Saina Nehwal

[malayali]

Injured and also getting old(er).
There are younger players that can beat him easily now. I beleive he is ranked # 5 in India.

Whatever happen to Chetand Anand? Morten Frost used to hail him as the next best player in badminton.

[george@chongwei]

Ratchanok beat her quite easily yesterday...

[Voltric]

She had a slow start as always, except that in this case she never really recovered from her opponents attacks. It was too little, too late in the end. She needs to take charge right from the beginning and change her overall approach to the game. This has happened too many times now.

[pjswift]

Saina s rusty and complacent. She hasn't played many tournaments lately and her opponents now know her game. Does she know her opponents game? She may be WR4 but she does not have that much experience to modify tactics in the course of a match.

[Voltric]

Perhaps all that "stardom" is getting to her head. Seriously, she needs to work on her strategy / tactics. Not sure if her coach is helping any.

[cobalt]

Saina s rusty and complacent. She hasn't played many tournaments lately and her opponents now know her game. Does she know her opponents game? She may be WR4 but she does not have that much experience to modify tactics in the course of a match.

Agreed. Although, I watched her finals game against Wang Xin at the MO Gold recently and I was quite surprised that she was actually trying out many more deceptive and touch-based shots, and being generally more creative and daring in her choice of strokes and responses to Wang Xin's play. Sadly it didn't work out for her, but I believe that was more due to insufficient preparedness and a lack of ability to shift mental gears that is beginning to make itself apparent to all her opponents. And yes, I keep harking back to the lack of world class coaching/training.

[lcleing]

This is part and parcel of the game. A good player will usually shine due to his/her unique style of play. After winning a couple of tournaments, he/she will then go through a period of 'mediocrity', partly because that athlete was trying to cope with the mental stress that the fame brings, partly because more opponents studied his/her game in greater detail.

This is the time when they start losing and their game not working. It's only natural that they will lose their confidence and undergoing a transition period. This is the most crucial part of an athlete life- they need to re-think their game/tactics, improve their weakness and add more arsenals into their games. Some broke under the pressure, never able to recover to their previous form(Tago was still searching for a way out. Wang YiHan and Lu Lan, does that ring a bell?). While the 'lucky' ones broke the barrier and become a better player, both physically and mentally. The very good examples of those 'lucky ones' are Lin Dan, Zhang Ning and Lee Chong Wei.

If you followed the history of Lin Dan, you will find that he went through hell briefly before getting admitted into the senior squad(18 yo, the coaches thought that he won't make it as he was the shortest in the squad), 2003(right after he became world no 1), 2004(1st round casulty in Olympics), 2005(WC defeat) and 2006 (AG defeat). Is all about how to pick yourself up and become a better player. If you read about the sweat, blood and tears that Lin Dan pour into the game, you will really think that talent is overated. No champions are made overnight, contrary to what many MAS fans believe(can't blame them really, they got spoiled by KKK/TBH during the 2006-2007 period).

There's no one who can help Saina but herself. Give her some time to think about her game, hopefully we will be able to see a stronger Saina in the future.

[cobalt]

...snip...
There's no one who can help Saina but herself. Give her some time to think about her game, hopefully we will be able to see a stronger Saina in the future.

I'd just like to point out one thing that makes a difference. Those that cane out of their slump stronger than before, had the advantage of a very strong support system: great coaches and trainers, phychological coaches, nutritionists, physical trainers, a very strong sparring bunch. All the CBA players who experienced a slump and came out stronger had this. Tago has a very good coach, but we also know Tago is not fully committed in terms of his time (besides being a natural goofball! )

My point? Saina cannot help herself in isolation. I hate to say this and sound like a stuck record, but BAI need to bring in some world-class coaching talent and support staff.

[george@chongwei]

What a specatacular peformance from saina that earn her a 2 set victory over wang xin of china yesterday.
Many of her brilliant cross net and beautiful drop shot leaves wang xin absolutely stranded there.
It could be Wang Xin is under pressure to deliver a point in front of her home grown.
Anyway, credits and kudos to Saina for beating a chinese player in front of their back yard.
Wonder what will be in LYB's mind after this.

[heqingbluesky]

she play quit good this year.

[chris-ccc]

What a specatacular peformance from saina that earn her a 2 set victory over wang xin of china yesterday.

Many of her brilliant cross net and beautiful drop shot leaves wang xin absolutely stranded there.

It could be Wang Xin is under pressure to deliver a point in front of her home grown.
Anyway, credits and kudos to Saina for beating a chinese player in front of their back yard.

Wonder what will be in LYB's mind after this.

.
Just found out that Saina Nehwal defeated Wang Xin 21-15, 21-11 in 33 minutes at the Sudirman Cup on Thursday 26-May-2011.

Well Done Saina, Wang Xin is not a girl who can be defeated easily.
.

[cobalt]

Saina played a very clever game; congratulations to her! There was no doubt that Wang Xin made just too many unforced errors, but that does not take away from Saina's achievement, she deserved the win. This will only give her more confidence going forward!

[cobalt]

Chinese shuttlers no more invincible now: Saina


FnF Correspondent , May 27, 2011, 13:24 pm IST

Full story: http://www.facenfacts.com/NewsDetail...now:-saina.htm

New Delhi: Chinese domination in badminton is slowly ending, declared Indian ace Saina Nehwal after stunning world number three Wang Xin in the Sudirman Cup, insisting that the competition has opened up with Asian and European players rising to the challenge.

Saina shocked Xin in her own den during the Sudirman Cup and it was only second defeat for China in the event after Germany's Juliane Schenk shocked the top-ranked Wang Shixian.

"It's good that nowadays a lot of players are coming in to beat the Chinese -- not only me, but I also think Juliane Schenk and Tine (Baun, of Denmark). The Thai players and Japanese are also doing very well," Saina said.

"We are all training very hard and I think now everyone is believing they can beat the Chinese, so I think the road is quite open now," she was quoted as saying by media in Qingdao , China.

The young Indian player said the recent success of many Asian and European players players has made the Chinese nervous.

"The Chinese players are getting a little tense that a lot of players are doing very well and they (the Chinese) should be a little careful. The competition is opening up and it's very tough now," Saina said.

China's head coach Li Yongbo also praised Saina for her gritty show and said the emergence of new players augurs well for the game.

"Nehwal posed a big challenge to Wang Xin and she is a strong player. She did a very good job. I agree that in the women's singles more foreign players are doing better than before," he said.

"But this is not a bad thing, it's good to promote badminton in the world and we don't expect China to win all the matches. We all hope that badminton can develop in a more even way," Yongbo said.

[OneToughBirdie]

SN played very well and beating WX at home is no easy feat. Sudirman pits one WS representative from one country, it is a dilemma for CHN, with so many WS to pick from, who to pick on a one-shot deal against a SN who hit top form on game day? To say CHN badminton is slowly ending, that is furthest from the truth. TB and JS are easing into senior ranks and may not be around too long. SN is still the only top WS from INA, none from MAS/INA, 1 from KOR, 1 oldie from DEN, and that is about it folks. CHN has 5-6 top WS and more we have not heard of. When it comes to WC, AE, OLY, UC and SS, CHN is allowed multiple entries and a player most probably has to beat 2 CHN WS players to win a major and maybe even more than 2 to win a SS, still the CHN wall exists CHN still the one to beat...except in Sudirman

[chris-ccc]

SN played very well and beating WX at home is no easy feat. Sudirman pits one WS representative from one country, it is a dilemma for CHN, with so many WS to pick from, who to pick on a one-shot deal against a SN who hit top form on game day? To say CHN badminton is slowly ending, that is furthest from the truth. TB and JS are easing into senior ranks and may not be around too long. SN is still the only top WS from INA, none from MAS/INA, 1 from KOR, 1 oldie from DEN, and that is about it folks. CHN has 5-6 top WS and more we have not heard of. When it comes to WC, AE, OLY, UC and SS, CHN is allowed multiple entries and a player most probably has to beat 2 CHN WS players to win a major and maybe even more than 2 to win a SS, still the CHN wall exists CHN still the one to beat...except in Sudirman

.
Making the correction for OTB;

SN is still the only top WS from IND.


.

[Fan888]

SN played very well and beating WX at home is no easy feat. Sudirman pits one WS representative from one country, it is a dilemma for CHN, with so many WS to pick from, who to pick on a one-shot deal against a SN who hit top form on game day? To say CHN badminton is slowly ending, that is furthest from the truth. TB and JS are easing into senior ranks and may not be around too long. SN is still the only top WS from INA, none from MAS/INA, 1 from KOR, 1 oldie from DEN, and that is about it folks. CHN has 5-6 top WS and more we have not heard of. When it comes to WC, AE, OLY, UC and SS, CHN is allowed multiple entries and a player most probably has to beat 2 CHN WS players to win a major and maybe even more than 2 to win a SS, still the CHN wall exists CHN still the one to beat...except in Sudirman

I agree completely that for Saina to call China's domination ending is far from the truth, definitely not in WS. I find her comment troubling to boast about her own win while the team lost the match 1-3.

[cobalt]

I agree completely that for Saina to call China's domination ending is far from the truth, definitely not in WS. I find her comment troubling to boast about her own win while the team lost the match 1-3.

The way I read it, it appears she is trying to take the game to the China team; making a point that many other girls from different countries have been reaping more success lately against the WS Wall. I think its valid. More along the lines of positive thinking. Really has nothing to do with the IND team's loss, which would have been no surprise to anyone including Saina herself! And LYB was gracious enough to grant her point as well.