"I like playing the chinese 'coz I want to beat them. I wanna beat them 'coz they're the best"
Sweat and striving make Saina Nehwal the world no.6 and India's No.1 athlete. Take a look at her arduous routine : 15 mins on the treadmill at 10.5 kph,then another 15 at 11 kph and 1/2 an hour at 12 kph. At which stage, instead of toppling off and gasping for an ambulance she wants to do a 10 min clip at 14 kph !! This is Saina's aerobic target and she has 2 sessions to get there,to run 15 kms in 70 mins burning about 1300 cals. What may look like torture to us is actually her routine.
The 1st Indian woman to win an asian sattelite event, the 1st Indian woman to win a four-star tournament,the 1st Indian woman AND the youngest winner of a super series grand prix Indonesian open in june (one of the game's 12 elite events). She is world no.6 and she's all of 19. It's badminton that has given India it's best-performing athletes, quite poetic 'coz the sport was invented here. When she gets onto the court she turns into a synthesis of energy,movement and craft. She hits with Gopichand and 2 other men,their shots echoing in the high archway of the indoor court. Endurance is the foundation of her sport : A player covers nearly 6 kms in a 75 min. singles match,compare that to a tennis match that lasts thrice as long but a player covers only 3 kms. No other sport has such diversity of movement.Badminton players leap off the ground,smash,run cross-court and bend to pick up a drop in less time than it takes to read this sentence. They raise their lower arm repeatedly,causing their hearts to work harder pumping blood upwards
Nehwal is candid "I don;t have very good skill in my strokes,but I try to pick up all the shuttles" But she's one of only 2 women of non-chinese origin in the top 10 of world badminton. A chinese website has rated her as their biggest threat and toughest competitor. She's flattered but sombre, "It's not easy to win against them" She and her family have sacrificed a lot of things to help her keep playing. She wanted to be a doctor,but could not take her exams as she had to play. Her father turned down a promotion in delhi so that his daughter could concentrate on her game. Her sis and mom deny themselves foods that Saina avoids,but which are her faves like ice-cream,chocs and chaat. But she's one tough determined cookie. In china once, her coach Gopichand told the vegetarian Saina that she couldn't be picky about food,and that she had to eat meat "if I wanted to be stronger than the chinese". She simply switched.
Her focus is unwavering,her ambition uncompromising. She thinks facebook-ing is a waste of time and saw her last movie in dec '08. She treats herself to a single ice-cream only after she wins an event. She said in response to being asked if she missed just being a normal girl "I love winning you know. I love standing on a podium rather than going out for a cup of coffee" It's a daunting sense of mission "It's not easy to be a champ" She has succeeded not 'coz of her addiction to the game,but also her appetite for a tough choice. Today she's at a stage where the margins are getting narrower,if she plays 5% better she can beat the top 8,if she plays 5% lesser 20 more players can beat her. As much as she loves winning,losing reveals her best. Hours after her Olympic quarter final loss, as coach and ward were returning Gopichand asked lightly "Training at 6 tomorrow ??" Nehwal said "plz bhaiya",Gopichand thought the joke had gone too far,but she was only requesting an extra hours sleep. They trained at 7 AM the next day. After her Indonesia win she dint sleep all night,sitting up in bed watching her medal,but she was out of bed and on the courts at 5 AM.
What makes her this way ?? She says she would feel 'sick' if she didn't play her game. Does she consider herself special ?? "Yes I'm special" One part youth and one part self belief, that's what drives her to her destiny.
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