The applause began for a winning stroke on the adjacent non-TV court,and like the Enfield exhausts extended firing,continued into the longest rally of 30-odd shots that Saina Nehwal won with a stubborn kill in her semifinal against Intanon Ratchanok. The Indian lost the match eventually,with her strapped knee compounding her weary movements,but she had brought out the mental fortitude that makes her such a dangerous player in marathon matches.
Nehwals ouster from All England was unfortunate,but hardly alarming,given her wobbly fitness. And Ratchanok,with her languid strokes and easy movements,made Nehwal look duller and half a second slower than she really was.
In an age of womens singles badminton in which the dominant Chinese browbeat opponents with aggressive smashing or apply a patient interrogators slow torture of long rallies which Nehwal herself excels at here was an 18-year-old Thai making the All England finals solely by rolling her elastic wrist.
Ratchanok is in the same mould as Thai mens player Boonsak Ponsana,who though a treat to watch when he mixed things up,could never find the biggest breaks. Badminton watchers,hence,are cautious to predict greatness for the three-time Junior World champion.
Ratchanoks shown that shes vulnerable if her stamina reserves are threatened,and her loose body language in third sets can revive an opponents spirits and grant them a foot in the door. Still inexperienced,her deceptive edge could wear off.
Shivani is a special correspondent based in Mumbai. shivani.naik@expressindia.com
