Saina Nehwal's best is yet to come

Saina Nehwal proudly poses with the Indian Open medal

In the badminton world, if you ask any person "who is the world number one women's player?" the answer would be like this - "she should be from china". That's how the Chinese have dominated the women's circuit for so long. The last non-Chinese player to be No.1 was the great Tina Baun in 2010. Now, at last, our countrywoman with the height of just 165cm has achieved this very feat. 

This is certainly not the first time an Indian is crowned world number one in badminton as Prakash Padukone had already been at the top of the ladder, in 1981. But what distinguishes Saina Nehwal's achievement and that of Padukone's is that the proper ranking system and professional badminton circuit was established after the Padukone era. Even more special is Saina sits at the pinnacle at the time where women's singles badminton is at its very peak.

I must confess that Saina's game is not attractive nor it is fluidic in nature nor she is nimble footed as most of the women in top 10 of the world rankings right now. But what she has is the predator like approach to the game where she can capitalize on even the smallest of chances you give her. She is more similar to a club team managed by Jose Mourinho where she can get the job done it for you, even though her game is not so attractive. 

The Hyderabadi girl's game is always top notch in the front court, at the net area to be precise, where she can force opponents to commit errors with net dribbles and to setup points & finish her rallies with a smash. 

One area she developed hugely after moving to the new coach Vimal Kumar is at the back of the court. At the back, she has developed her game tremendously but still needs improvement on the forehand side of the backcourt.  She does not have that much variations there as she usually plays a straight drop volley which can be easily exploited by a faster player. This is what exactly happened in the All England 2015 final against Carolina Marin. 

In that match, Marin exploited the backcourt weakness of the Indian by flicking the shuttle to the forehand side of Saina and waiting in the net to pounce for drop volley. But her overall game has increased to a higher level and it is evidently visible. Another aspect of her game in which Saina impressed was her hard smashes, adding new dimensions to her game. She is one of the hardest smashers in women's game right now.

After 2012 Olympics, she may not have enjoyed the best results as she would have hoped for but the change of coaching staff has done wonders. She got a second wind under her wings and can utilize it properly and prosper with her usual focus, concentration, and never-say-die attitude. In the world of international sports, nothing is permanent and the hard truth is that Saina may lose her No.1 ranking to someone. But let us pray that she holds that for so long that another Indian snatches it from her.

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