by Saran, Renu
Saina needs to maintain a high level of fitness while training for badminton. She would like to give her fitness level and training skills credit to her coaches and physiotherapists who know how to make her work that extra bit.
She religiously follows the tips and suggestions put forward by her coaches. And that’s what keeps her going.
Injuries are a part of a sports person’s life. Right from Sachin Tendulkar to Steffi Graph and Sania Mirza, everyone has had it. But Saina Nehwal considers herself lucky. In case of this skilled badminton champion, injuries haven’t been a very vital part of her career as yet.
What is the secret?
According to Saina, the secret lies in her strong and fit genes. Both her parents have been former state badminton champions of Haryana and have always believed in leading a fit and healthy life. Her basics have always been good and she has had professional coaches training from a young age. Also, she play only singles which helps a lot, according to the world champion.
Typically, her weekly routine includes 2-4 sessions of strength training, 3-6 sessions of endurance and 6-8 sessions of agility and moderate running as part of endurance training. As part of her strength training routine she does dumbbell pullovers, rowing exercises, military press for shoulders, heel raises for calf muscles and lat pull downs, amongst others. Her agility training is a customised routine including speedy bursts of running along with lunges, ab crunches, etc.
Saina think that there’s no life without fitness. Her take on exercising and maintaining fitness is that regardless of one’s age, it is crucial to exercise. It is vital for each and every individual to exercise for at least 30 minutes in a day. It will keep one fresh through the day and also gives one the strength to fight off illnesses. Another tip is to follow a disciplined lifestyle. Discipline is extremely necessary to incorporate into life especially if the priority is to lead a fit and healthy life.
A secret that has always kept Saina going is discipline. She follows discipline religiously. Unlike other teenagers, Saina doesn’t get to sleep in, watch movies or hang out with friends. Her daily routine (without fail) includes getting up at 6 am everyday, 6 times a week and practices. Much of her success has come from just great discipline. Discipline is something most people lack in their diets and exercise routines. For instance, most people know eating a certain thing is bad for them but they would still eat it, and the same goes for exercise. Discipline is necessary to incorporate into life especially to stay fit.
Saina is a world-class athelete. And maintaining an injury free career is an amazing achievement a player of her genre can make. Her dedication to game is what the world sees. But there is a lot more the player has to indulge in. Be it maintaining a steady diet, excellent stamina, fitness or high energy level, Saina has done it all. She knows what’s required and expected from her and works accordingly.
The dedicated girl understands that the entire country has high hopes from her. She would never let her fans and country down.
What Makes Saina Nehwal
Super Saina and a Winner?
Saina Nehwal, one of the Top 5 badminton players of the world today and winner of the Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour is an icon for youth.
So, what is it that makes Saina Nehwal a super success? What are Saina Nehwal’s secrets of success? What makes people call her ‘Super Saina’?
Well, there are many things that make Saina Nehwal what she is today. Researches and studies have proved that most successful people in this world depend on habits to acquire success. Success is attracted by the dedication and change within the individual.
Here are some habits that have proved effective among successful people across the globe and our own Saina Nehwal.
Proactive
It is said that proactive people are driven by values independent of the surrounding environment. These are also independent of how people treat them. Proactive individuals make use of their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions within their area of influence and control. They don’t believe in reporting problems and waiting for someone else to solve them.
What about Saina Nehwal? Is she proactive? Yes. Saina Nehwal hails from a middle-class family in Haryana. Her father Dr. Harvir Singh is a scientist with the Directorate Oil Seeds research at Hyderabad. Her mother was a badminton player. Dr. Singh was also a skilled player. Both were former state champions in Haryana. Badminton was in her blood. She took to the game at an early age in life. However, potential for playing the game is one thing and realizing it as a goal is another. One needs to take it forward. The journey is tough. Dr. Singh spent over half of the monthly salary on Saina’s badminton requirements. Everything from rackets, shuttles, and shoes were of high quality and expensive.
This is not all. Saina had to travel over 20 km everyday and reach the stadium at 6 am in the morning to attend 2 hour training. She had to continue the long journey back home, and then travel again to attend school. Life must have been really tough for this poor little girl. The requirements for badminton reached a level where her father had to withdraw money from Provident Fund savings. The money was contributed to finance her training. Apart from this, she was also under the risk of lagging behind at school.
Considering all of the above stated factors, Saina and her parents accepted all this as beyond their means. They were satisfied with National level success Saina had achieved in her early life. Her family did not let go of the dream of their daughter making it big one day.
Imagine the Ultimate
It is important to start with the end in mind. Saina and her family nurtured a dream. The dream was to see Saina climb the pinnacle of success in the field of badminton. They never let go of the dream. For each tournament, Saina holds on to her dream of winning an Olympics medal. All her eyes are always on winning tournaments. She kept her eyes on her goal and world rankings just followed.
Practise and Focus
Of course, nothing is possible without practise and focus. And this is apparently what Saina Nehwal practices. Experts feel that these elements have undoubtedly been the single-most important reason for her success.
Did you know apart from the training that she does at the P Gopichand academy, she also further spends additional time on work-outs and fitness at home, as also on meditation? Well, success does not come easy and Saina Nehwal is the perfect example for this saying.
Saina Nehwal would also like to hang out with friends, spend time on movies, have fun & parties. But does she? In one of the interviews, her father said, “She did not do any of this for 7 straight years, especially those early initial years. Her entire concentration was towards practise and winning tournaments.”
Of course, Saina Nehwal now has recently gone ahead and had a trendy makeover recently and has started appearing in a few ads also, but as long as she still sticks to the ‘Put first things first’ policy, she should keep achieving fairly well.
Eat, Drink, Think, and Sleep Victory
Victory is not possible if don’t think about it or dream it. In fact, it should be one thing in your mind that inspires you to play. You need to focus on a diet that helps you get victory. The practice sessions should be targeted towards achieving maximum victories. When you have one thing in mind and your actions are towards the direction of your goal, success is surely yours!
Understanding Win-Win Situations and working on them!
When Saina Nehwal could not attend a super series tournament, due to nursing an injury, and the organizers still wanted her to come and talk to the media, a win-win situation such as video conferencing with the media was proposed.
Sportspersons also need to act strategically. In the above case, it was more of a win-win seeking mutually beneficial agreements. As regards win-win relationships, Saina Nehwal has worked with several coaches, prior to Gopichand also, and it must have surely been a mutually beneficial relationship for them. Saina focussed on developing her game whereas the coaches getting their best student ever.
Understand and Then be Understood
A sportsperson should understand and be understood. Over the years, Saina’s various interviews have reflected her concern for the second-rung badminton players who still have to struggle hard to keep going towards success. Be it Sania Mirza or Cricket or badminton in India, her views are clear enough, and can such clear views come without a clear understanding? The trait has helped Saina to be in the limelight for good reasons and in an acceptable way.
Connect Well
Saina Nehwal is a super badminton star. P Gopichand is a super badminton coach. The connection between the two of them, has led to success for both. The year that Saina won the prestigious Arjuna award for best sportsperson, also saw P Gopichand winning the equally prestigious Dronacharya award for best coach. This is how a well established, amicable and strong connection works.
Sharpen your Skills
It is crucial to take out ample time to sharpen skills. This is easy if you focus on working for physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual dimension renewal and establishing a perfect balance between these dimensions. Sometimes, you need to look beyond the apparent. Apart from honing existing skills, one should also focus on various things that make up for a sportsperson’s recognition and so called ‘star value’.
When Saina Nehwal has opted out of tournaments due to nursing any injury (this is the time when she cannot practice badminton also), she has tried out different things, be it photo shoots, advertisements, and public appearances. Here, she concentrated on sharpening her social skills, meet necessary requirements and try and achieve a fuller work-life balance.
And when it comes to practising badminton, can anyone doubt that Saina Nehwal does not sharpen her skills? Her results on the badminton court are ample proof.
Some of the Significant Years in
Saina Nehwal’s Life
Saina Nehwal has been playing badminton since an early age. From the age of 8 years, Saina used to admire this sport so much she used to wake up at 4:00 am every morning and his father travelled 25 kms to the Lal Bahadur Stadium where Coach Nani Prasad used to coach her. As she grew, step by step, she became better and started playing international better. She was merely 13 years old when she started to receive national and international recognition.
Here is a list of some of the most significant years in Saina Nehwal’s career:
2008
In the year 2008, Saina won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold tournament, and reached the semi-final round of the LI NING China Masters Super Series tournament also. The same year, she created a history of the sorts when she became the First Indian Woman ever to reach the quarter-final round of the Badminton event at the Olympic Games. At the Beijing Olympic Games 2008, Saina faced the 4th Seeded player and the World No. 6 Wang Chen from Hong Kong in the pre-quarter-final match. Although, in the quarter-final match, she lost to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia by 28-26, 14-21, 15-21.
Stage Opponent Result Games Points
First Round Ella Dichl Won 2-0 21-9, 21-8
Sccond Round Larisa Griga Won 2-0 21-18, 21-10
Third Round Wang Chen Won 2-1 21-19, 11-21, 21-11
Quarter-finals Maria Kristin Yulianti Lost 1-2 28-26, 14-21, 15-21
She won the 2008 World Junior Badminton Championships that are organized by Badminton World Federation (BWF). She also won the 2008 Commonwealth games that were held in India. In September 2008, she won the Yonex Chinese Luipei Open by beating Lydia Cheah of Malaysia 21-8, 21-19. Equally important, she was named the most promising player in 2008 by the BWF.
Saina had worked really hard to win. For this ace shuttler, it was a dream come true.
2010
Saina’s Sports Career Record in 2010
The important Sports Career Record of Saina Nehwal made in 2010 is mentioned below:
Native Indian Females Group
The renowned Indian badminton star, Saina efficiently led the Native Indian Females Group to the quarter-finals level of Ultra Cup finals. The youth icon also became the first Native Indian Lady to arrive at the partial great finals of season 2010 complete England Extremely Sequence prior to dropping to Tine Rasmussen, the champion.
Yonex Sun Rising Badminton Japan Tournament
Topmost seeded Saina achieved the semi-finals of the tournament 2010 dropping out to Xuerui, the unseeded champion and the great player of China. During the tournament, her trainer and mentor Gopichand recommended her not put in too much stress on herself. He knew that the reaction from some of frustrating home audience was disturbing her. He asked her to keep calm.
BWF Huge Corrt Silver
Saina defeated popular Wong M. Choo of Malaysia in the finals and thus justified her charging as a high ranked player at the competition. She also won award cash of $8,280 for winning this competition.
Singapore Start
Saina Nehwal was once again ranked as the number one at Singapore Start Extremely Sequence. She beat Lu LAN of China, the Globe champion.
Singapore Start
Saina won the second Extremely Sequence headline by beating T. Ying, the highly qualified player of China, Taipei in the finals 21–18, 21–15. The great Indian player succeeded the competition by beating the top 5 rated Chinese players. Saina won award cash of $15,000 for this competition.
24th September, 2010
Saina acquired the position of world number three for the female’s single men and women badminton sport world cup.
BWF Extremely Sequence
The renowned Indian player protected her Philippines Start super series headline in three challenging activities aligned with renowned player S. Sato of the country of the country of Japan, 21–19 and 13–21 / and 21–11. It was her important third important super successions headline as well as her only third subsequent headline following victories at Native Indian open games, in the country of Singapore Extremely competition. Nehwal once again highly won the renowned top award cash of around US$18,750 only for successful this competition.
15th September, 2010
With high 64791.26 factors, Saina Nehwal acquired a profession of great world position of number two just behind renowned player W. Yihan of China. Nehwal also won the prestigious gold honor in the popular female’s badminton singles in the Earth Games organized in Delhi. Saina defeat Wong M. Choo of Malaysia 19–21 and 23–21 and 21–13. The huge success meant a great thing for her.
12th of December, 2010
Saina Nehwal beat Wang, the great player 15–21 and 21–16 and 21–17 at an important final Hong Kong Extremely Sequence. This helped her win the significant 4th profession Extremely Sequence headline. Saina Nehwal confirmed her contribution for these years. The Hong Kong Extremely is a significant game of her life. The critics certified the game as the first renowned super series competition of Nehwal after a long gap of many weeks.
2011
Some of the major Sports Career Record of Saina Nehwal in the year 2011 is stated below:
27th January, 2011
Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Korea Open Super Series Premier in the second round. She was defeated by the Japanese Sayaka Sato in a tight 3 set match. The score was 17–21,21–19 and 21–11.
11th March, 2011
Saina was quite disappointed to be defeated by Eriko Hirose of Japan at All England Super Series Premier. She was defeated in straight sets. The score was 21–11 and 22–20. This was her second early exit for the year soon after being defeated in Korean Premium Super Series in the month of January.
17th March, 2011
Saina faced Eriko Hirose again. This time, it was for the second round of the Wilson Badminton Swiss Open. However, this time the ace player managed to win in three games 21–15, 17–21 and 21–11. This victory was significant because it came on her birthday.
20th March, 2011
Saina Nehwal beat Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea by 21–13, 21–14. This made her win the prestigious title of Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold.
During the India
n Open Super Series in Delhi, Saina made an early exit. This time she disappointed the home crowd by facing defeat by Japan’s Ai Goto in straight games 21–17 and 21–19.
8th May, 2011
Saina Nehwal wavered after a good start. She lost to Wang Xin of China (then world number three) in the finals to finish the 2011 Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold runner-up tournament.
The BWF Double Star Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Event
Saina Nehwal participated in the event and won her first match against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei. The game was a hard-hitting three setter 21–10, 12–21 21–17. However, India lost the tie 3–2. Saina was later shocked in her second match by Junior World Champion and 16 year old teenager Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand. She lost in straight sets 21–14, 22–20, but India managed to beat Thailand 3–2 in the tie to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the Elite mixed team event. This event occurred for the first time in the history of the tournament.
During the quarter-finals, Saina put forward her best foot against the mighty Chinese and performed well. She beat the then World number two Xin Wang in straight sets 21–15, 21–11. However, the Chinese still managed to move into the semi finals with a 3–1 win over India.
Thailand Open GP Gold
Saina lost to Li Xuerui of China in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open GP Gold.
Singapore Open Super Series
Defending Champion Saina lost to Cheng Shao-chieh of Chinese Taipei in the second round of Singapore Open Super Series
26th June, 2011
Saina made a dedicated attempt to record a third straight win at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier. She reached the finals and lost to Wang Yihan of China to finish as runner-up, on.
World Championship, 2011
Saina Nehwal crashed out of World Championship 2011 as she lost 15–21, 10–21 to World Number 3 Wang Xin of China in a lop-sided women’s singles match. The Indian badminton player reached the quarter-finals in the last two editions of the event, had to be contend with yet another last-eight finish.
