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Happy if this move gives Saina mental satisfaction: Vimal Kumar

BENGALURU: Three years ago around this time, Saina Nehwal was at the most turbulent phase of her career. She was drained physically and mentally – having pulled out of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games due to an injury and a loss to world No. 1Chinese Li Xuerui in the 2014 Copenhagen World Championships quarterfinals had added to her frustrating run against topranked players.

By her own admission, the thought of quitting the sport for good, too, crossed the young Hyderabadi’s mind. In September 2014, as she struggled to find form, Saina decided to set up base in the cooler terrains of Bengaluru under the tutelage of U Vimal Kumar at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. The genial, ever-smiling coach was more than happy to take her under his wings.

True to the cool and calculated play er that she is, it wasn’t a hurried decision. Saina had been taking Vimal’s advice right from the 2014 Uber Cup in May, where India won a historic team bronze. The three-year association, which officially came to an end on Monday, was nothing short of a revival, both for Saina’s physical prowess and her mental strength.

A silver and bronze World Championships medals – the latter after a remarkable comeback from injury – a historic All-England silver and a handful of Super Series crowns became part Saina’s illustrious trophy cabinet. However, Vimal’s perseverance to instil confidence in his ward won Saina the biggest prize of them all – the world No. 1 ranking.

Within six months of shifting camps, Saina was on top of the world in March 2015, her spectacular rise bearing testimony to the 27-year-old’s hard work and Vimal’s never-say-quit work ethic. “To be honest, I wasn’t surprised at all,” Vimal told TOI on Monday about Saina’s decision to return to Gopichand. “She had mentioned to me about this and after her return from the World Championships, she had messaged me that she wanted to have a chat.”

Vimal said Saina wanted to train with Mulyo Handoyo, the former coach of Indonesian legend Taufiq Hidayat, who has been roped in to ease Gopichand’s workload at his academy. “She wanted to give it a try. I said there is no harm in it. Also, she has a thigh strain, she’s missing her home, parents and friends. So I said why not? I’m not a rigid coach. I’ve seen this a lot in my coaching career,” he said.

Three years ago, Saina had parted ways with Gopichand after being unable to get individual attention from him. Now, amongst rising stars such as PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth, would Gopichand be able to devote extra attention to Saina?

“Maybe it (special attention) has been assured to her,” the former India coach said. “I had a long chat with her today and she and Gopi have also talked about this. She told me she has been promised all the support. Players have a short span at the top and will always be looking at ways to get better. We at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy supported Saina when she needed it. As long as this move gives her mental satisfaction, I’m happy about it.”

Source : timesofindia



This post first appeared on Daily Kiran, please read the originial post: here

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