Saina Nehwal’s decision to skip the selection trials for the CWG and Asian Games could well be the beginning of the end of a glorious journey in international badminton for more than a decade and a half.
A former world No. 1, Saina has been the torch-bearer of women’s badminton in the international arena, representing the country thrice at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (2018), New Delhi (2010) and Melbourne (2006).
While there should be little doubt that the Hisar-born shuttler can still work her magic in the professional circuit with some scintillating performances, her reluctance to ace the BAI trials is good for her chances of representing the flag in a multi-discipline. can end like this. Events like Commonwealth Games, Asiad, Olympics and Uber Cup.
A two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, Saina had hoped to defend her title in Birmingham, but be it a hasty decision or miscommunication, the dream seems a distant dream.
An upset Saina on Thursday took to Twitter to slam the Badminton Association of India for not responding to her emails, as well as questioning the rationale behind hosting the trials.
However, the federation has maintained radio silence, indicating that the transition to women’s singles has begun and from now on the focus will only be on the young crop of players, allowing them to showcase their talents at the international level.
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“He has achieved a lot for the country, but he hasn’t done anything remarkable in the last two years. He hasn’t been able to even resolve his injury issues,” said a former coach on the condition of anonymity. But told PTI.
“Playing with niggles consistently at the international level is tough, so he needs to accept it and not get hyper on these issues. No one can deny his contribution to the game but I don’t want to see him so bitter about it,” said the lauded coach.
BAI seems to have set the wheel of change in motion when they called for a selection trial on April 2 to pick teams for the Commonwealth Games, Thomas and Uber Cup and Asian Games.
While the top 15 players were exempted from the trials, the rest of the top Indian players, including Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth and three-time CWG medalist Ashwini Ponnappa, ranked from 16 to 50, opted to participate in the trials. agreed to, which began. Here on Friday.
But Saina, who is currently ranked 23, held back as she did not want her body to go through the stiffness as she came back from playing three-back-to-back events in Europe and the Asian Championships to begin in April. Is gonna. 26.
Saina’s reasons are reasonable as she is not in the best physical condition in recent times. Repeated injuries played a part in delaying her return to peak fitness, and this was reflected in the results as she was ruled out of a series of tournaments early.
The 32-year-old showed signs of his old self during his three-game loss to world number two Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the opening round of the All England Championship.
Saina is still making a comeback and does not want to go through the difficulties of playing 6-7 matches in the trials.
But it is understood that the BAI does not want to make any concessions to the London Games bronze medalist and has made it clear that participation in the trials is necessary to be selected for the big-ticket team events.
“She could have just taken it as a week long tournament and played. I understand two weeks’ time is not ideal, but where is the window in a busy schedule?” said the former coach.
“This is a new administration and I don’t think injustice is being done to them by hosting the tests,” he said.
Saina’s decision to play the India Open in January without regaining full fitness also backfired as she suffered a straight game loss to fast-rising Malvika Bansod.
This cast doubt on her recent poor performance as well as her ability to ensure medals in multi-discipline games.
BAI, on the other hand, is also eager for blood in the next generation of players – Malvika Bansod, Akarshi Kashyap and Tasneem Mir, who are waiting in the wings and are almost on the same level.
A BAI official argued, “With COVID-19 disrupting the domestic and international circuits, the selection trials were the only way to find out where the players stood in terms of rankings.”
Saina may no longer take to the court in the team championship, but her journey in international badminton is not over yet.
“Make no mistake, she can still be a formidable player. Now she should focus on the open event and still play well if she is pain-free.”
He did well in the first round of the All England Championship against Akane and it shows that he still has the appetite.
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