You have to make a few sacrifices to win: Saina

November 7, 2014      Interviews

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Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal said here on Tuesday that she was enjoying her stint with former National coach U Vimal Kumar and hoped to return to her best form while training in the city.

The Hyderabadi, who opted for a change from working with P Gopichand in her hometown in September, admitted she was already reaping the benefits of more personal attention even as she soaked in the city’s culture. She said if one needs to win, one must be ready to sacrifice a few things.

“Enjoying training is important and I’m doing so,” the 24-year-old told TOI in an exclusive chat. “I can see the improvement happening. My movement is getting better and I’ve been able to play tough with top players. I hope it’ll be a matter of time before I beat them,” she said after a grueling three-against-one training session at the Karnataka Badminton Association where she sparred with Vimal and two others for nearly two hours. Still, there was s smile on her face between breaks.

“I needed to improve my speed and movement on court and the pace of my strokes. That’s why I opted to work with Vimal Sir. When I was playing the world championships in Denmark, I felt I was slow and spoke to Gopi Sir. There were things I wasn’t convinced about,” she said, explaining what prompted her to seek Vimal’s advice.

“Even after I arrived here, tournament schedules have allowed me only two weeks of practice at a stretch. Once we get 3-4 weeks of practice, it’ll be easier to see how my endurance levels have improved,” she said.

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