Shuttle Service Next Is What?

Sindhu though fights back winning the next point after an extended rally. She then wins the next five points to take the game and dismantles the Delhi player in the decider 21-6.

The Saina-comparisons began last year after Sindhu’s fifth place finish at the World Junior championships in Mexico in March,a quarterfinal finish in the Asian Badminton Championships and simultaneous victories in the junior and sub-junior nationals. She would have played the Youth Olympics,but was disqualified for being under-age . Airport Authority of India (AAI) made her a contracted player and she became the youngest shuttler to sign on with Olympic Gold Quest. P Gopichand,both Saina’s and Sindhu’s coach had hinted at the same possibility saying “Sindhu has the potential to be the next Saina.”

Where Gopichand had only hinted,SM Arif — Dronacharya Awardee and Gopichand’s coach asserted that she was more than a prodigy. “Mark my words,” he declares,“Sindhu will become a world beater. She has speed that Saina still does not have,and she has a variety of strokes. Moreover she has age on her side. She will only get better.”

Right genes

Sindhu’s parents Ramana and Vijaya were both volleyball players for the Railways — Ramana,an Arjuna Awardee and a former national captain. Sporting genes assured,Sindhu also benefited from the height advantage that is one of her main strengths on the court.

Already,a beanpole at 5-10,she is still shorter than her 6’4 father and 6’0 mother. What additionally favored her was the fact that she is the younger of two siblings. When the elder daughter was growing up,Ramana would always be at a national camp or travelling while Vijaya was working in the Railways office. With no parent available at home in Secunderabad,a career in sports would have been difficult. Sindhu was born seven years later when Ramana was winding down his career. So at the time she was getting serious about her game,he had just retired as a player. There was enough time at hand for a new challenge. Eventually either he or mother Vijaya would be around to accompany Sindhu wherever she travelled in the country.

Noticing six-year-old Sindhu beating neighborhood matrons in their evening pastime of badminton,her parents sent her to train at the Lal Bahadur Shastri indoor stadium in Hyderabad under the legendary SM Arif. His retirement in 2005 saw Sindhu shift to the then recently opened Gopichand Academy in Gachibowli. The academy was around 26 km away from their home and since Sindhu was very young,her parents hired a driver to ferry her. She would get up at 4.30 a.m,reach the academy at 5.30 a.m,practice for two hours,then come back,go to school and then again in the evening go to the academy for more practice. When she returned by 10.00 a.m,she would already be sleeping in the car.” Not too different from the Saina-story of five years ago!

Coach at the Gopichand Academy since its inception,Mohd. Siyadathullah describes Sindhu as someone who would never say ‘No’ to any training regime. “She is always eager to please. If you tell her to do something,she goes ahead and follows it to the letter. With Saina,she would do a lot of work by herself. But that was because the training program was more loose in her time. Today the work schedule is so strict with training two times a day for five days in a week that players are too tired to do much after that. But Sindhu would also sometimes come on a Sunday — a holiday and say “bhaiya I want to work on my forehand or something.” Shades of the Nehwal-work-rate there!

The results came almost immediately. She won an Under-10 national ranking tournament in Kochi and as a laminated picture at her home attests,stood just below Saina Nehwal who had won the U-16 category of the same event. Then at 13,in her first senior tournament in December 2009,she beat the No 2 Indian Sayali Gokhale in the Syed Modi tournament before losing to the second seed in three games in the quarter finals.

In between her achievements,there are moments that remind everyone around her that in fact she is just 15. “While she had speed and height,she lacks strength in her legs. But we can’t jump too quickly into a weight training regime,because we can’t put pressure on her joints. Then there are teenage distractions that you don’t plan for. She would go for a tournament abroad,away from coaches and family and when she came back Gopichand sent her for extra running. She had come back with her cheeks looking fuller because she has been tucking into pizzas.”

Coach Siyadath and others know that much of the regimen she undergoes is being followed after constant pushing. “Sometimes I wonder what will happen should neither we nor her parents be around to hover around her. But there are instances that make us happy. Recently she was at the AAI camp in Delhi for two days. One day she was not given much work to do,so she took it easy. But the next day immediately she called and said we are not doing that much work. So on her own she decided to practice with Sumit who is a senior at AAI. She did this on her own. These are moments when we begin to feel,yes she is starting to take up the responsibility.”

Chalk and cheese

While comparisons have already been painted with Saina, a cursory glance indicates they have little in common other than a weakness for biryani. Most of that can perhaps be explained by their age gap,but those in the know say the differences have always existed.

While Saina is serious and reserved,Sindhu is gregarious and outgoing. While Saina’s game is built around grinding opponents down with her fitness with long rallies,Sindhu looks to finish off points with winners like an un-retrievable half smash.

“I really don’t get to interact with Saina that much,because she plays so much of the time abroad. Once I was her roommate in the Uber Cup in Malaysia last year. She is very nice with me,but reserved. I sometimes play rallies with her before she goes for some major tournaments,and sometimes I play well but most of the times she will win. When people compare me to Saina,I do not react. Sometimes Gopichand Sir will make jokes about it to me,” she says,carrying the burden of comparison lightly.

Gopichand doesn’t fear such attention will divert Sindhu’s focus. “I tell her this,as well as the other promising youngsters like Pranoy,Sikki and Praneeth that this sport is very unforgiving. As long as you are playing well,there will be a lot of attention. Don’t get carried away. For Sindhu that will remain the challenge.”

The mental game is another dimension she needs to work on. National junior coach Sanjeev Sachdev has worked with both players: Saina,when she won the World Junior Championships in 2008 at 18 and Sindhu at the Asian Juniors in 2010. “ Even as a 15-year-old,Saina had a mental toughness that is rare for those her age. I had never seen it before. She is a fighter through and through. What she lacked in strokes,she made up with persistence and supreme physical fitness. Sindhu has strokes Saina never had. However her advantage lies in staying with seniors at the academy where she can learn from them. Additionally,Saina provides her with a role model to follow,one Saina did not have herself. “

Saina’s face is a grim stony-mask during games. It betrays no sign of emotion even at crucial points. On the other hand,Sindhu is volatile — all smiles and giggles between matches and sobbing uncontrollably after a poor game — even one she may have won. At the recent senior ranking tournament in Bangalore,Gopichand was sitting across her end. “She had played a poor couple of points. She was walking around with a moping look on her face. I told her,her body language is the key. Even if you are losing,you must never let your opponent see that in you,” he recalls.

That instance made Sindhu’s mother Vijaya question whether she was pushing her daughter too hard. “At times even I start to forget that Sindhu is just fifteen. She was lying next to me in bed,thinking about her final match. It was against Neha Pandit who had beaten her in straight sets previously in the year. Right then I was thinking how young she was. She started murmuring. Mummy I will play like this,this is how I will beat her. She was planning her game while she was sleeping. That is when I realized,how seriously she took the game,” the mother says.

Challenges ahead

While her victories have been impressive on the junior circuit,she has not yet cemented her spot in the seniors. Gopichand promises consistent results after 2-3 years and Sachdev points out that even Saina faltered in her first tournament after her World Juniors triumph. But while Saina first indicated signs of what was to be with a win over 10-time national champion Aparna Popat in a satellite event in 2006,Sindhu has yet to pull off a victory of a similar magnitude.

Indeed at the Senior Nationals she almost lost against Mohita. The performance is explained away by Siyadath as her not expecting that match to begin as early as it did. Also,she had not warmed up in chilly Rohtak. As she warmed up during the course of the match she improved dramatically. But it was a crucial break in fortunes that brought her back from the brink at four match points down. In her final shot in the important rally at game-point -17,Sindhu attempted a drop shot. The shuttle flicked the tip of the white tape on the top of the net,cart-wheeled undecidedly before flipping over and tumbling onto the other side of the court.

“Making the leap from junior potential to senior performances is very difficult. There are many pitfalls,injuries and distractions. Along with talent,hard work and persistence you need some luck,” says Gopichand. If her match at the nationals is any indication,that last factor at least is not in short supply.