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Journalism of Courage
When,in 2006,Aparna Popat was struggling to match the skills of her English opponent Tracey Hallam in the mixed team event of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,Saina Nehwal 16 years at the time and a fledgling in the badminton circuit expressed to the national coach Vimal Kumar the confidence in her ability to beat the English. Kumar recognised her fearless tone and the enthusiasm of her youth and convinced the rest of the staff to give her an opportunity in the next singles match against Singapore. She repaid the faith of her coach and helped her country on to a bronze medal.
She was exuberant,fearless and driven. All she wanted to do was to get on the court and win. Today,when Saina finds herself out of form and favour on the back of a near-barren season decorated with just one insignificant title,Kumar wants her to get back to the basics; back to the mental state of the bodacious youth of five years ago and play without fear. She looks like she is playing under too much extra pressure. She must focus on playing with a free mind to get back to her best, said Kumar.
Kumars solution to this problem is for Saina to have detailed discussions with other former internationals that have played at this level before. He feels that Prakash Padukone would be an ideal mentor in this case. Gopichand is with her everyday and sometimes all that he says will not get through. It is always good to have a fresh perspective and Prakash is the right man for the job. She must have proper sessions where he just tells her about how she must handle herself mentally while on the court. She must be simple in her approach, he said.
Kumar was also pleased with her victory in the first round of the World Superseries Finals where she beat Koreas Bae Youn Joo in three sets 21-14,17-21,21-14. According to him,she needs to get a string of such victories and get into a rhythm. Everything else will fall into place. Once she starts moving well she retrieves the shuttle well,keeps it in play and then controls the game with her half-smash. That is when Saina is at her best, he said.
He is sure of her reaching at least the semi-finals of this event but a win will not be top priority for her as far as her Olympic aspirations are concerned. She may win this tournament or lose out in the final. This wont affect her result in London, he said. Crunch-time,according to him will be post-May,three months before the event and that is when she will have to pull up her socks.
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