Before Vimal, Saina Nehwal almost quit

“I had lost my way mentally and my game was going nowhere. But look at me now. I have since won several titles including India Open and China Open, reached the finals of two major tournaments (All England and the Worlds) and in the process, I’ve taken the World No.1 rank. It’s a dream come true.”

With her sparkling medal close at hand, Saina beamed with joy. Brimming with confidence, she parried probing questions with consummate ease and in general, presented a picture vastly different from last year when she, as often as not, looked exhausted.

And according to the World No.2, only one person deserves the credit — her current coach U. Vimal Kumar. “All credit to Vimal sir. He instilled self-confidence in me. He told me, ‘You are a champion. Whether you lose in the first round or in the final doesn’t matter. Winning and losing is common in sport.’ That self-belief has worked wonders.

“From playing at a good level, I’ve now become one of the best players in the world. I’m the player to beat for many around the world, especially the Chinese. It is a proud moment for me,” Saina said. Had she remained in Hyderabad at the Gopichand Academy, Saina said, she would have continued to struggle. “It’s easy to defeat the best in the world when you’re at the top. But once you slip, it becomes very difficult to get out of that rut. That’s what happened to me. I went from World No.2 to No.9, and I was losing to everyone. I was losing in the first round or the pre-quarterfinals. “Had I remained here (at the Gopichand Academy), I would currently be ranked No.20 in the world or something. I’m not being negative, but there are a lot of good players at the Academy and the coach needs to divide his time among all of them. But being a player, I couldn’t just sit and wait for my turn. I needed personal attention. And I got that from Vimal sir.”

She further explained: “He’s been working on my weaknesses. And whenever I come back from a tournament, he helps me correct my mistakes and right now, his attention is on just me and that that has paid off. At this level, you need someone who’s only focusing on you.”

On her historic silver medal — the best result by an Indian at the World Championships — Saina said: “I never thought I would reach the final at the Worlds. Over the last few years, several questions were raised about my ability. ‘Why does Saina never go past the World Championships quarterfinals?’ was one question I heard often. And I took that as a challenge. I’ve now broken that jinx and came so close to winning gold. This medal will give me a lot of confidence going into the Olympic year.

“I now have a medal in every major tournament, and my focus will only be on bettering those results. And the way I’m training right now, I’m sure I’ll produce the goods,” Saina said. “If in such a short span of time, my coach and I found a way to enter the finals of such big tournaments, I’m sure we’ll find a way for me to win these tournaments from next year.”

As for the second defeat at the hands of world champion Carolina Marin in a final, Saina is looking at the bright side. “I’m getting better at playing her the more I face her. I played better in the Worlds final than I did at All England. I’m sure I’ll face her again in the coming tournaments and that will only help me read her game better.”

Thanks to her Indonesian fireworks, Saina is set to reclaim the top spot when fresh rankings are released this Thursday. “I will now work hard to win the Japan Open and Korea Open next month,” Saina said.