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India’s leading shuttler and world number 6 in the women’s game, Saina Nehwal, believes that luck didn’t go her way in a few important matches of the year, which in turn contributed to her slide down the rankings.
2013 has been one, perhaps even the worst, of Saina’s career. It was all the more surprising as it came on the back of what was her best ever season last year in 2012 where she won a handful of Super Series tournaments and also claimed the bronze medal at the London Olympics.
She was close to challenging for that coveted World No.1 ranking, but her performance this year has sadly saw her slip to 7th (she is back upto 6th now). She has failed to win a single tournament this year, failing to even reach a single final.
The only bit of success that came her way was in the inaugural Indian Badminton League, where she led her Hyderabad Hotshots team to the title. Saina won all seven of her matches at the event and was the only player to finish with a 100 per cent record.
However, Saina is keen to accept the bad year as a part of life and is looking ahead to next year where she will be defending her Commonwealth Games gold medal. The Asian Games are also scheduled for next year, and Saina will be looking to pocket that gold as well, though she will have to get past the Chinese there.
Responding to questions on where she felt things had gone awry in 2013, Saina told DNA: “Nowhere. It is perfectly alright. My performance was static all through the year. I entered the semifinals of the All England Championships and Indonesia Open Super Series Premier that are equivalent to the World Cup. I made it to the last eight in Korea Open Super Series Premier, Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, Singapore Open Super Series and the World Championships.”
“In the rest, I was out in the second round in three sets, each match lasting more than an hour. Had I clicked in one, I would have been among the top four in the world. I did not play Sudirman Cup in May and as a result lost more than 7,000 ranking points. I am also concerned about the rank. Also, luck did not favour me. A win in one of the semifinals might have altered the equation. “
“Anyhow, a loss is a loss, I will focus more in the coming year.”, added Saina.
There is one tournament left yet in the season though, and that is the BWF Super Series Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between December 11-15. And Saina will look to round off the disappointing year on a high.
“I’d like to do better in this last tournament of the year,” she said.
Saina also admitted that while there were injuries affecting her through the year, they were not the major factor that contributed to her barren trophy cabinet, a point raised by national coach P. Gopichand as a contributing factor to the shuttler’s struggles.
“Injuries did not hamper my chances in the tournaments except those in May-June that included Thailand Open, Singapore Open, Indonesia Open and Sudirman Cup, where injuries halted me.”
“Otherwise, it was okay.”
In fact, she attributed the struggles to other players raising their game and giving it their best when they came up against her.She shot down instantly a query on whether 2013 was her worst year saying – “I learnt a lot in these tournaments. In Denmark, I struggled against Ji Hyun Sung of Korea and lost in three sets in the quarterfinals. The same Sung lost to (PV) Sindhu in the next week in France. I defeated Kirsty Gilmore of Scotland in straight sets in Denmark (2nd round). The same Gilmore defeated Sindhu in three sets in France the next week.”
“It showed that there was no consistency in the results. So, we have to apply different strategies for different players. That needs more practice and watching videos to chalk out strategies for each opponent,” explained Saina.
Saina stressed that she has an optimistic outlook about herself and is looking to do better next year.
“I am enthusiastic, fit and focussed. I want to go further and further in the sport. And yes, my performances must be far far better in the coming year.”, said Nehwal.
Saina’s showing in Super Series events this year
Korea Open Super Series Premier: QF
Malaysia Open Super Series Premier: SF
All England Super Series Premier: SF
India Super Series: Rd 2
Indonesia Super Series Premier: SF
Singapore Super Series: QF
Denmark Open Super Series Premier: QF
French Super Series: Rd 2
China Open Super Series Premier: Rd 2
Hong Kong Super Series: Rd 2
BWF World Championships: QF
