Celebrate the spirited show of Sumit Nagal but don’t lose perspective, says Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra said that the perspective must not be lost as there is a lot of work to be done before producing a champion from the country.

Sumit Nagal serves to Roger Federer during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York. (Source: AP)

With India watching 22-year old Sumit Nagal make his Grand Slam debut on Tuesday against tennis great Roger Federer and twitter abuzz with the Indian’s spirited performance, Abhinav Bindra said that the perspective must not be lost as there is a lot of work to be done before producing a champion from the country.

Despite winning the first set, Nagal lost 6-4 1-6 2-6 4-6 in a match that lasted two hours and 50 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in to bow out after making his maiden Grand Slam main draw in US Open.

Speaking on the lines of creating champions, Bindra tweeted, “While we rightfully celebrate the spirited show of #SumitNagal let’s not loose perspective.We need to a lot of work to do to produce a singles grandslam champion from india. Sumit shows us we can, we must follow through on it by creating champions! #Grassroots #science #talentid”

While we rightfully celebrate the spirited show of #SumitNagal let’s not loose perspective.We need to a lot of work to do to produce asingles grandslam champion from india. Sumit shows us we can ,we must follow through on it by creating champions! #Grassroots #science #talentid

— Abhinav Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 27, 2019

However, India’s former No. 1 tennis player Somdev Devvarman pointed it out to Bindra that a Grand Slam title is a far way dream at this point. He used the example of Kei Nishikori and said, “While we should be excited that he’s now playing at a high level, a grand slam title is very far away at this point. To put it in perspective, Nishikori hasn’t won one yet. And yes, we do need to work harder and smarter on development”

Also the larger questions,
Do the administration know what it takes?
Do they really care about the players?

My feeling is they don’t.

Hence the uphill battle continues.

But we gotta keep fighting the good fight.

— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) August 27, 2019

Sorry man. Politely disagree on part 2.

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While we should be excited that he’s now playing at a high level, a grand slam title is very far away at this point. To put it in perspective, nishikori hasn’t won one yet.

And yes, we do need to work harder and smarter on development

— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) August 27, 2019

It means that we have the potential to , however we are a long long way away from that !!!

— Abhinav Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 27, 2019

Here is how others from the sports fraternity reacted:

Very proud of @nagalsumit for his overall performance. Lots of positives to build from this. He has made massive strides!
Safe to say his best is ahead of him!

Kudos to his coaching staff for bringing him this far in such a short time! Keep working!#milosgalecic #sashanensel

— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) August 27, 2019

From a man who’s seen a lot of tennis. Agree 100%.

Hope he uses this experience to get hungrier and works harder to improve, now that he’s had a taste of what could be.

Potential is one thing, reaching it is another.
The hard work must continue!
Let’s go sumit! https://t.co/7Wmv1drwkJ

— Somdev Devvarman (@SomdevD) August 27, 2019

The dream might be fading for Sumit Nagal but enjoying his spirit. Proud of you @nagalsumit

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 27, 2019

Breaking News: Sumit Nagal goes down fighting to Federer 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 4-6 in R1 of #USOpen .
Winning 3 Qualifying matches; then taking a set against the maestro & breaking him twice is a wonderful achievement.
You can hold your head high @nagalsumit . More power to you pic.twitter.com/NnwQ75ESfO

— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) August 27, 2019

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