It would be most interesting and telling to know how P Gopichand assessed of Saina's matches with WSX and LXR separately as they have contrasting styles and individual characteristics as well as the way the two matches panned out. Maybe it would be wise for him to keep his true views to himself and not tell the press.
Maybe she wisely changed her tactic and gameplay from time to time.. very wise of her.. Till the chinese players and coaching staffs dunno what more to do with her..Care have to be taken that OG2012 will be a major platform for ALL players to perform 'incredibly' well. A little bit over confident can do quite a BIG damage.
Route training can work well but can also backfire big time if the target player changes his/her game.
Saina has more focus and patient to 'stay in the game' nowadays. IMO, thats her key to success, so keep it up Saina
Olympics: Saina, a true-blue champion IBNLive Sports | 26-Jun 11:41 AM Saina Nehwal is a beacon of hope for India to win a gold medal at the London Olympics 2012. India's most celebrated female badminton player is currently ranked No. 5 in the world by the Badminton World Federation and is in splendid form of late, having won the Thailand Open and Indonesian Opens in succession. Saina is a role-model for millions of young Indian girls who aspire to carve a niche for themselves. The road to success for the 22-year-old shuttler has not been easy. She had to go through the grind to fulfil her dreams. Fortunately, her parents supported her unflinchingly right from the childhood and her undying tenacity stood her in good stead. Saina was born in Dhindar, Hisar district, Haryana in a Jat family. Her family moved to Hyderabad when she was five years old. She got a brown belt in Karate but PSS Nani Prasad Rao, badminton coach of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, spotted her talent in badminton and convinced her father that she had the wherewithal to become a professional and accomplished badminton player. So, Saina quit Karate when she was eight to pursue a career in badminton. Her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, and mother, Usha Nehwal, were former badminton champions in Haryana. Both of them lent unstinted support to Saina. Yonex, a sports equipment manufacturing company, started sponsoring Saina at the age of 12. Saina shot to fame in 2006 when she became the first Indian to win the Philippines Open despite going into the tournament as the 84th seed. Later in 2008 she became the first Indian woman to make it to the quarter-final of the Olympics in the singles event. In the quarter-final, she lost to Indonesian Maria Kristin Yulianti. Both the players had won one set each and Saina was leading the third set 11-3 but lost it 14-21. Next year, she scripted a history by winning the Indonesian Open and becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament defeating China's Wang Lin. For her sparkling tour de force, Saina was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2009. Saina clinched her second career Super Series title by winning the Singapore Open title on June 20, 2010. She successfully defended her title in Indonesian Open as she prevailed in the thrilling three-set game against Sayaka Sato of Japan. Following her barn-storming exploits, Saina reached a career high world ranking of No. 2, only behind Wang Yihan of China, on 15 July 2010, with 64791.26 points. Later that year, she won a gold medal in the woman's singles event at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, surviving a match point against Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo, which helped India to finish No. 2 in the medals tally. She capped off the fantastic year by notching up Hong Kong Super Series to win her fourth career Super Series title by toppling Wang Shixian 15"21, 21"16, 21"17 in the final. After a fabulous 2010, Saina had a rather disappointing 2011. She crashed out of the Indian Super Series in the first round in front of her home crowd. Ai Goto of Japan got the better of her in straight games 21-17 and 21-19. Saina's ambition of winning the third Indonesian Open in a row was thwarted as she lost to Wang Yihan of China in the final to finish as runner-up. Another kick in the teeth was the first round exit from the 2011 China Open Super Series. There was, however, a sole bright spot among all the downers as she clinched the Swiss Open by beating Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea 21-13, 21-14 in the final. By the end of 2011, Saina showed signs of gaining lost ground. She became the first Indian singles player to reach the final of BWF Super Series Masters after defeating World No. 5 Tine Baun of Denmark 21-17, 21-18 in the semi-final of the 2011 BWF in Liuzhou (China). Though, she lost the final 21-18, 13-21, 13-21 against world No. 1 Chinese Wang Yihan in a cliff-hanger which lasted for over an hour. Saina carried the momentum and her form in 2012 as she defended her Swiss Open title defeating World No. 2 Wang Shixian of China 21-19 21-16. She followed it up by knocking over Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon 19-21 21-15 21-10, to rack up the Thailand Open. Nehwal reclaimed the Indonesia Open Super Series, her third Indonesian Open title, as she pipped World No. 3 Li Xuerui of China 13-21 22-20 21-19 in the final. Though just 22, she has already carved out an illustrious career and it is expected that in the years to come, she'll add more sheen, trophies and feathers in her cap. For now, the whole country has pinned its hope on Sania to bring glory to the nation. By the look of things and her recent form, the dice is certainly rolled in her favour.
Gulfnews.com Saina gave up karate to embrace badminton Revelation about India’s Olympic badminton hopeful comes in new book IANSPublished: 00:00 July 7, 2012 World No 5 Saina Nehwal has struck stunning form at just the right time ahead of the London Games where she hopes to deliver India a first Olympic badminton medal. New Delhi: Badminton ace Saina Nehwal, who is confident of winning the gold in the London Olympics, was initially into karate before she took up the shuttlecock game, says a new book. Saina was learning the martial art from coach Indrasena Reddy in Hyderabad paying Rs100 (Dh6.68) a month. “The karate coaching came to an abrupt end in December 1998 when, during a demonstration, the instructor prepared to run a motorbike over the hands of the students,” says journalist T.S. Sudhir’s book Saina Nehwal: An Inspirational Biography (Nimby Books).
Yes indeed, for we may not have a superstar-to-be for badminton! She has to prove she can really take on all the CHN women brigade at this London Olympics and thereafter.
She is definitely not in the Reiko or Wang Lin category, but she looks pretty good among the current group of pro players.
At the moment Saina, SJH and Juliane as probably the ones who can push the CHN girls the hardest. TTY, Rat, CSC and Tine are at the next level. The rest... enjoy the Olympic experience.
Saina Training Watch Pullela training Saina http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=iRDuuGaitaY&NR=1
SAINA NEHWAL IS BETTER BUT SHE MUST BE THE BEST, SAYS PULLELA GOPICHAND Posted By:* Sam Willis Saina Nehwal is better but she must be the best, says Pullela Gopichand – Badminton News It seems chief coach of India Pullela Gopichand will keep pushing Saina Nehwal to bring out her best in London Olympics as he declared that she must dig deep into her reserve of talent in the future. The badminton queen, who holds fifth spot in world rankings, has bagged two consecutive international titles, Thailand Open and Indonesia Open last month and these successful outings will really help her in the coming edition of the Olympics. Though, badminton guru Gopichand admitted that Saina has showed elevation in her craft but he believes that she will have to develop winning habit to make a long lasting impact in the arena. He said, “Saina’s game is different today from how it was a few years ago. It’s important for her to keep getting better and sharper.” The Khel Ratna and Dronacharya awardee coach, who also runs Gopichand Badminton Academy, has guided her all the way to glory and he will leave no stone unturned to ensure that she matches world beaters in terms of mental and physical strength. In the beginning of ongoing season, he advised Saina to lose weight to stay sharp on court and that move has yielded good results in the previous couple of months. Meanwhile, Gopichand is also watching steps of youngsters like P.V. Sindhu, K Srikanth, Sourabh Verma, Sameer Verma, Sai Praneeth and Guru Sai Dutt and he is satisfied with their progress in recent past. However, he stated that these youngsters lack consistency which is essential to gain respectable position in badminton world. He said, “The younger guys are getting results against the second-rung Indonesians and Malaysians. We need them to be consistent. We’re getting better but we need to move to the next level.” Though, former All-England Champion Pullela Gopichand has the useful assistance of international coaches like Hadi Idris, Atik Jauhari and Edwin Iriwan still he always puts an extra effort to make his shuttlers more skilful. He unveiled his secret recipe of success by commenting that he always plans to beat opponent’s move even before it is made. Now his craft will be tested in London Games where five Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Diju V, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will be trying hard to escort the country to glory.
Here's a lovely little press conference with Saina about a month ago, just after her win at the Indonesia Open PSS. [video=youtube;NI4YVvwFKho]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI4YVvwFKho&feature=related[/video]
I can hope and try, not predict: Saina Nehwal 16 Jul 2012 http://www.indiatimes.com/olympics/i-can-hope-and-try-not-predict-saina-nehwal-32309.html Excerpts: ...Saina spoke to IANS on her Olympic chances with measured equanimity. "It is the highest level of the game and a dream for any sportsperson; I can only hope and try, cannot predict. ...The expectations from Saina have risen after her splendid showing on the circuit in recent months. After bagging the Thailand Open and Indonesia Super Series titles last month, the world number four stood up to the domination of the Chinese girls and proved they can be beaten. Saina has defeated all top players of the world except current No.1 Wang Yihan, one of the three Chinese who will be in action in the women's singles at the London Olympics. "Let us see what happens. I will give my 100 percent in all of the matches," she said when asked if she is confident of beating Wang this time. Saina believes all opponents are going to be tough as every player is working very hard for the prestigious competition.
Saina is currently World No.5 . Saina is currently World No.5. We should send India Times this link; http://bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14955 .
