“Wherever the players are mentally happy, they will do well. That is the most important aspect,” said U Vimal Kumar, reacting to his ward Saina Nehwal’s decision to return to chief national coach Pullela Gopichand at his academy in Hyderabad.
Kumar, under whom Saina has been training from September 2, 2014 till the 2017 World Championships at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru, was expecting the former world No. 1 back to his academy in the middle of this week as she wanted to spend some time in Hyderabad with her family following her bronze win at the Worlds.
However, Saina chose to stay back home. On Monday, the 27-year-old, after consulting Gopichand and Kumar over the last couple of days, conveyed her decision to return to Gopichand’s academy.
In a series of tweets, Saina said: “For a while I’ve been thinking about moving my training base back to the Gopichand academy and I had a discussion about this with Gopi sir and I am really thankful to him for agreeing to help me again. At this stage in my career I think he can help me achieve my goals.
“I’m also very thankful to Vimal sir for helping me for the last three years. He helped reach world No.1 in the rankings.. And also helped me win two world championships medal silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017 along with many super series titles.. I’m very happy to b back home and train in Hyderabad, keep supporting friends.”
Kumar, co-founder and chief coach at PPBA, has taken Saina’s decision in his stride and even welcomed her choice to go back to Hyderabad, where she can train with Mulyo Handoyo, the Indonesian singles coach who has joined the Gopichand academy and who has guided legendary Taufik Hidayat in his prime.
Clarifying that there was no hint of Saina moving back to Hyderabad during the World Championships in Glasgow, Kumar said: “Four-five days back, Saina messaged me on these lines after we returned from World Championships,” Kumar, 54, told DNA from Bengaluru.
“You need to respect her decision. As top athletes, when they need to try out something, it is fine. At the end of the day, they should not have any regrets that they are not giving it a try. Perhaps, Saina felt that Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu have been doing well under Mulyo Handoyo. She felt she can give it a try and see how far she can go,” Kumar said.
Kumar added that Saina was feeling lonely in Bengaluru without friends. “In Hyderabad, she can be close to her family. Those things matter,” he said.
Having been used to top players shifting their training base as he has seen Gopichand and former leading shuttler Aparna Popat do it in their prime, Kumar said the players “have to think for themselves”.
It was during her time at PPBA that Saina achieved what she could not do earlier. And, Kumar was only pleased to be the guiding force behind it.
“Winning medals at World Championships, winning a medal at Asian Championships, entering the All England final, winning India and China Superseries that she has never won before, being world No. 1, these are some of the things that she could achieve in the last three years,” Kumar said.
“I respect Saina’s decision and I’m quite happy with the way she progressed after her injury. If she can be a little more smart in her physical training and conditioning aspect, if she can follow her trainers’ instructions, she can get a lot better,” Kumar said.
He saw at least three good years of top badminton in Saina. “Her enthusiasm and work ethics cannot be questioned. She is a committed girl. When she wants certain things, it is our duty to provide the opportunities. Sindhu and Saina are very special girls,” he said.
Before deciding to have Saina back in his wings, the former All England champion Gopichand had a long conversation with Kumar and also with Saina.
“Gopi had a long chat with Saina. She was also feeling confident about what she can achieve. That is a positive step. Gopi has also said all support will be given to her,” said Kumar, who also made it clear to Saina that she was welcome to return to Bengaluru whenever she wanted.
Laughing off talks of Gopi and Saina not seeing eye to eye in the past, Kumar said: “All these things happen. As long as they don’t exchange too many harsh words, it is OK,” he said.
