The Top 10 (National) Players Are India's Future In Badminton: Saina Nehwal

The supply chain is very crucial, and when it comes to the growth of a nation's sport, it plays a significant role.

Over the last few decades, India had broken barriers and established itself as a strong competitor in major sports. Such positive changes are unusual, but at the same time, there is a great requirement of sustainability in these changes. Now, the availability of the current and future resources is responsible for the maintenance of the viability of positive changes.

In the case of badminton, India is reigning when it comes to the performance, and the sport has also gathered a lot of popularity. The ace players like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Kidambi Srikanth have not only won the historical titles for the nation, but they have also helped in the elevation of sport in the country. These shuttlers have filled the void which was felt after the departure of shuttlers like Syed Modi and the retirement of the legends from the sport like Pullela Gopichand and Prakash Padukone.

Today, India is among the strongest countries and has outstanding shuttlers in its bag. Undoubtedly, with the arrival of ace Saina Nehwal, things started to change in the badminton world and Sindhu is all set to carry forward the tradition of triumph. Saina feels that the accomplishment of India can be determined by how well the gilt-edged group of India is doing.

As quoted in TOI Saina stated, "The top 10 (national) players in each category are India's future in badminton. This talent in India's elite group should be looked after more to produce better players,"

Saina also feels that the progress of the players can be evaluated by their ranking and providing them target training.

"Nowadays, it's specialized training. Both doubles players and single's players train separately to improve their game under the guidance of coaches. (But) Following each of them is difficult. (So) It's the ranking that shows their progress," Saina said.

The best thing is that the nation has impressive coaches like Pullela Gopichand and Vimal Kumar who has been helping and supporting the young talent. PV Sindhu is the best example, who took training in the Gopichand Academy, in Hyderabad.

CRUSAFE FROM DARKNESS TOWARDS THE LIGHT

Saina also recalled her experiences about how tough it was to get into the courts and clinch a platform to flaunt her skills.

"I followed (started playing after) Madhumita Bisht and Aparna Popat, who won the All India title for a number of years, so I had difficulties to overcome being in the shadow of their achievements in India," the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist said.

The fans of Saina and Sindhu would also need to hustle against their icons, to prove themselves.

Saina believes that an early start is the best. "I was 9 when I started playing badminton in Hyderabad. In my opinion, one must start at age 6 or 7. There is more stamina and creativity in kids at that age to learn. The presence of excellent coaches in India is another benefit for the youngsters who opt for badminton now," the double Commonwealth Games (CWG) singles gold medallist (2010 and 2018) said.

STABILIZING THE YOUNG TALENT

The talent is, but if there is no support of quality infrastructure and coaching, then the ability of a player will go in vain. There is an excellent requirement of developing the state-of-the-art facilities, and so the authorities require credit. Undoubtedly, money has the most significant role in bringing the experts from foreign countries. At the same time, the famous and elite academies need all-round development along with the improvisation in the play of athletes.

The former World No 1 said, "The fitness levels of players around the world is not very different, provided they get balanced nutrition and train with the best coaches. When it was applied to me, I produced results and defeated world champions.

"That is why young boys and girls who got it (early) started getting better results. It is a universal truth that the new generation gives better results than the old one. PV Sindhu is one (example), and so many girls are on the way to doing well in badminton in the coming days," Saina continued.

SCALING THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

One of the biggest requirement in the Indian badminton is to enhance and improve the abilities of the players to defeat the strong Asian opponents. Although, the nation has conquered that stage and the outcomes were quite amusing too. Saina won two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games whereas Sindhu won the Silver at 2016 Rio Olympics and also remained runners-up in the World Championships.

However, there are still some players like Nozomi Okuhara (Japan), Tai Tzu-Ying (Chinese Taipei) and Carolina Marin (Spain) who have troubled the Indian badminton frequently.

At the Asian Games 2018, held at Indonesia, the ace Tai Tzu foiled both the brilliant Indian shuttlers, where, Saina lost in the semifinals, and Sindhu was foiled in the finals. Not only this but both Saina and Sindhu have lost around 22 matches to Tai Tzu, which is a matter of concern.

Even Gopichand has also stated that Tai Tzu has a tremendous psychological edge over the Indian players.

"Diversity is the reality, so there are little variations that set us apart in one group. That's how it goes." Said the 28-year-old.

Even though Saina is a senior player as compared to Marin, Sindhu, Okuhara, and Tai Tzu, one thing is for sure that the ace will not let her age be a barrier in the path of her success. She is all set to take challenges in the future.