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Coach Vimal Kumar inspires Saina by Federer and Nadal stories

By: Gobadminton desk
Date: 09 Aug, 2017
Image Courtesy: Facebook

Saina Nehwal, one of the strong contenders from the Indian team, underwent surgery after the injury during her battle at Rio Olympics, 2016. She was close to the podium; eventually suffering injury.

 

After five-month rehab post-knee surgery, Saina stepped onto the court in January for Malaysia Masters and clinched the title. Unfortunately, after Malaysia Masters, Saina couldn’t perform well and gradually she started losing confidence. She reached semi-finals at Thailand Open Grand Prix. Having participated in consecutive four Masters championships, 26-year-old Saina has been a failure in all three championships.

 

Her rankings dropped to World no. 11.

 

Saina said,

“I have never had to undergo surgery in my career before. This was the first time that the doctor told me that I have to undergo a knee surgery. I was thinking if I was able to come back after that surgery, how much time it's going to take me, so there were a lot of doubts in my mind,"

 

Saina quoted as saying by Badminton World Federation website.

 

“It happened during the Olympics, I was so scared. Will I be able to play again or not? That moment was very sad. I was mentally not prepared for it at all. I was crying in front of my parents and my coaches. It was going to be tough for me to come out of the surgery.”

 

“Then I met my physiotherapist who said he will get me back in two to three months. He told me to believe in myself and stay positive,” she added.

 

Now she is gearing up for World Championships that’s going to start from August 21st, at Glasgow, Scotland. Speaking about her preparation, Saina Nehwal’s coach Vimal Kumar said, “She has been working extremely hard, spending almost six to seven hours in training every day. My observation is that her fitness, comparing to international standard has not gone down. She is actually losing the confidence in the midst of her matches. In all the four Masters Championships she had participated, Saina had started decently. But in the midst of the game she looked losing confidence and as its result she started losing crucial points.”

 

To revise all her strategies and tricks during the play, Vimal has been showing her won matches’ video recordings.

 

“Actually, I have asked her to watch the video recordings of those matches in Australian Open and Indonesian Open where she came back from behind and showed glimpses of her old touch,” Vimal added.

 

“Citing example of Federer's amazing come-back after a year's sabbatical as well as Rafael Nadal's return to the courts after curing from injury, I am telling her two important things. One is that, you have not lost anything in your game. You can also beat anybody in the world in your day. The second important sentence I am telling her is that, just try to enjoy the game on the court. You will find the result automatically,” Vimal elucidated.


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