Feeling is yet to sink in: Saina

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28

Saina Nehwal was muted in her celebration. She could very well understand the enormity of the occasion, but did not let her emotions get the better of her. There were no wild shrieks, no fist pumping or running around the court with arms high up.

Saina has just been crowned world No.1 after defeating Japan’s Yui Hashimoto 21-15 21-11 which also propelled the 25-year-old to her maiden women’s singles final of the $275,000 India Open Super Series badminton tournament.

The world No.37 proved no match for Saina as the Indian won 42 of the 68 points played in the match. Though the Japanese showed spirit at the start of the contest, she could not persist with the high level of agility and speed showed by Saina. The second game was totally dominated by Saina as she reached 20-6 in no time. Saina appeared a little lax to waste five match points before sealing the tie on her sixth attempt.

The twin success demanded an on-court jollification from Saina, but then the Hyderabadi shuttler is not known for such over-the-top celebrations.

There was a simple wave to the crowd, acknowledging their relentless support on home court for over the years, a gentle hug to her coaches, Vimal Kumar and Madhumita Bisht, and a customary hand shake with her opponent.

Saina knew that celebrations can wait till Sunday when she will be up against third seed Thai prodigy, Ratchanok Intanon, who defeated the Indian’s closest rival, Spain’s Carolina Marin, 21-19 21-23 22-20 to book the summit clash with her long-time nemesis.

Saina ended India’s 35-year-long wait for a No. 1 player in badminton on Saturday. She is the second Indian to reach this milestone after veteran Prakash Padukone became No.1 in 1980. She will effectively mark the end of China’s dominance on the top spot since 2010.

When Saina was asked how it feels to be crowned world No.1 and, more importantly, to be remembered as the first Indian woman shuttler to scale the ranking summit, she was calm and composed in her response. “It is unbelievable, but I have a task at hand to win the Super Series. I will probably come to terms with it when I see my name on the top of the ranking list,” Saina said. The new official rankings will be announced by Badminton World Federation (BWF) on April 2.

“I have never reached the finals of India Open before, so this is a great moment for me. I always wanted to do well but somehow I missed reaching the final here. It is the first time for me so I am excited” she added.

After a sizzling performance at the All-England Championships where Saina lost to Marin in the final, this tournament was being touted as the ultimate battle ground between the two who were vying for the No.1 ranking. But Marin’s loss in the semifinal and Saina’s victory over Hashimoto was enough for the Indian to accumulate enough ranking points from this Super Series to be crowned the official No. 1 next Thursday.

“I have been in the top-5 for the last seven years, and thrice I became No. 2. I used to keep seeing Li Xuerui’s (China) name on the top for almost one and half years. I can finally see my name there now!” she said.

Saina said she had even thought of quitting the sport after her loss in last year’s World Championships.

“I have taken some hard decisions to get here. I kept losing to the top players all the time. In fact, after last year’s World Championship, I even thought of quitting badminton. It was a very dark time in my career. People were saying ‘Saina, your career is finished’.”

In the other match of the day, world No.4, Kidambi Srikanth, pulled off an easy 21-16 21-13 win over Chinese qualifier Xue Song to book a summit clash with Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. This would be the first time that two Indian shuttlers will contest the Super Series final.