Working on my half smashes to get closer to my goal, says Saina Nehwal

July 16, 2016

New Delhi, Jul 16: Bolstered by Australian Open triumph, India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is now working on her half smashes under the watchful eyes of coach Vimal Kumar to get closer to the goal of winning a gold medal at next month’s Rio Olympics.

sania copy“The victory in Australia came at just the right time. I was really looking forward for some change and nothing boosts confidence like winning. I needed a win to keep believing that I am on the right track,” the 26-year-old said.

“I am working hard on my half smashes to get closer to my goals. It is wonderful to win Australian Open prior to the Olympics. It is very satisfying to beat two world champions and a junior world champion in one tournament,” added the girl from Hyderabad who clinched the Australian title last month.

Set to play in her third Olympics, Saina said she is completely fit and the key will be to “reach the peak” in that particular week.

“I take each tournament as it comes. Rio Olympics will also be like any other games. My approach to the game is very positive and I would like to keep it like that and focus on my game. I feel that on the day that I am 100 percent fit, I have the potential to defeat anyone,” said the London Olympics bronze medallist.

“I feel I am fit. I am running nicely. At the end of the day, it’s important that you reach the peak and play your best during that particular week. That’s what will count ultimately and will be the key.”

It has been a year and a half that Saina has been training under Vimal Kumar in Bangalore and she said the former national coach was the one who made her believe that she can be a champion.

“Vimal Sir’s influence is the biggest change. I really want to thank him for making me believe every day that I am a champion, I can be number one. Vimal Sir is helping me work on my half smashes and get closer to my goals,” said Saina, who had reached the World No. 1 under Vimal’s guidance last year.

“It’s not easy to play at the highest level. I would like to give my best and like all the players my goal is also to come back with a gold medal. It’s a big contingent going from India this time, so we hope to have a triumphant return with lots of medals.”

Asked about the competition in women’s singles, Saina said there won’t be any clear favourite for the gold medal.

“I believe every player is there because they have the potential. Each game is going to be a tough game and each player will be a serious challenger. Li Xuerui, Tai Tzu Ying, Nozomi Okuhara, Ratchanok Intanon, Carolina Marin are all very good,” said the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion.

“I think everyone is well prepared for the games. They have been doing well in the recent games and I am going to take each of my competitor seriously. The standard of competition raises every year but having said that I am very positive and confident about my performance.”

It was at the Beijing Olympics when as a 18-year-old Saina had hogged the limelight after coming agonisingly close to winning a medal but eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Indonesia’s Maria Kristin Yulianti.

Taking a walk down memory lane, Saina said it was a big breakthrough for her and it inspired many Indians to take up badminton.

“It was an amazing experience of participating in Beijing Olympics, I was only 18 years old that time. Now people expect a lot because I feel I have inspired a new generation to take up badminton, especially girls.

“Women power is certainly on the rise in badminton in India. Many more players are coming up now. It is a healthy sign and a good trend. We should have more cities producing more badminton players,” she said.

“It was a breakthrough for me to enter the quarter-final stage at Beijing and I believe that it gave Indian badminton a massive facelift. Across the world, one generation of successful athletes inspires the next lot of champions.

“It is a trend, and Beijing saw Indian badminton cash in on my story. From then, the pressure has been on me to perform and build on my success, and this proved to be a motivating factor in my career,” she explained.

Saina, who was presented with a special Omega watch — the Official Timekeeper of the Olympics Games — as a good luck gesture at a recent event in Bangalore, also spoke about the role of the brand in time-keeping at Rio.

“From the last 84 years OMEGA has fulfilled the prestigious role of Official Timekeeper at the Olympic Games. Under their watchful eye, records have been set and broken, history has been witnessed and legends have been made. No matter the year, the Olympic Games have always delivered a multitude of great moments in time,” she said.

“Three one-thousandths of a second is less than 1/10th of a blink, less than 1/100th of a heartbeat. But if you’re a speedskater, 0.003 seconds can be the difference between gold and silver. They’re responsible for the record-keeping of pretty much every major international sports competition, from swimming to cycling to the biathlon. Olympic timings need to be precise to cater for close finishes and the latest technologies by Omega keep it fair.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 14,2020

Hamilton, Feb 14: Batting first, India finished at 263 for nine on the opening day of the three-day warm-up game against New Zealand XI here on Friday.

Hanuma Vihari made 101 off 182 balls before retiring, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 93.

Besides, Ajinkya Rahane (18) was the only other Indian batsmen to register double digit score.

The likes of Prithvi Shaw (0), Mayank Agarwal (1) and Shubman Gill (0) failed to cash in on the opportunity.

Scott Kuggeleijn (3/40) and Ish Sodhi (3/72) shared six wickets between them for New Zealand.

Brief Scores:

India: 263 for 9 in 78.5 overs (Hanuma Vihari 101, Cheteshwar Pujara 93; Scott Kuggeleijn 3/40, Ish Sodhi 3/72).

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.