5 Reasons That Affected Saina's Performance

Reasons that likely affected Saina Nehwal's semifinal perfomance at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Saina Nehwal shakes hands with Tine Baun after her victory. Pic courtesy: Reuters

By Francis Adams

1) ENERGY SAPPING BACK-TO-BACK MATCHES: Although she said that she has been working on bolstering her endurance level for the Olympics, matches against tough opponents within 24 hours of each other have had their effect, mentally and physically, on Nehwal's performance. The overwhelming experience of having beaten -- in her own words -- "a very senior and experienced player" Tine Baun of Denmark, a former world number one and two-time All England champion, followed by the prospect of taking on her perennial nemesis, also the reiging world No. 1 added to the drainout effect. Nehwal popped the tip of her tongue out when a prominent sports channel asked her view about Wang Yihan ahead of their game, indicating that the Chinese was a very dangerous player and she was, in fact, nervous about her semi-final opponent. Nehwal definitely needed more time to plan out a strategy against an opponent who first beat her in 2006 in the World Junior Championships and has been repeatedly inflicting that defeat, including this semi-final encounter at the Olympics.

Wang Yihan, who beat Saina Nehwal. Pic courtesy: Reuters

2 FORCED TO ANSWER DISTRACTING QUESTIONS: Unlike the Chinese, Nehwal has had to directly answer questions thrown at her by journalists covering the event because she speaks the English langauge. The Chinese on the other hand speak through interpreters who play a vital role in softening up thorny questions posed by reporters in their interpretation. For example, ahead of her match against Wang Yihan, Nehwal was asked by a prominent sports channel about her prospects of reaching the final and winning the gold. The reporter did not pause to think, well, this is the Olympics and a player takes each match as it comes, step by step, instead of jumping the gun and thinking about the gold medal. All Nehwal could do was reply back politely that she was indeed looking at one match at a time, although she looked visibly uncomfortable answering such a poser.


3 PRESSURE FROM SCREAMING FANS: Some players, such as Leander Paes, enjoy crowd support while others simply don't. Nehwal belongs to the latter group, not always though. If playing at home, she would not have objected to fans egging her on. However, she did make it clear that "at times it affects my performance." Anyway, these "India jeetega" chanting crowd weren't there during her scintillating triumphs at the Swiss Open, the Indonesian Open, the Hong Kong Open and the Malaysian Open. Were they? It will be years, maybe another decade, when majority of Indian fans will prefer to display catchy, witty and motivating banners and posters instead of screaming out loud. Nehwal told ESPNStar categorically that such support from screaming fans does put her "under pressure."

4 WHAT DID THE MENTOR PLAN? It would be interesting to dig into the dossier that Nehwal's mentor Pullela Gopichand carried with him about Wang Yihan. Did he devise a collective strategy for all the Wangs and Lue Xuerei or did he dissect and prepare an altogether separate and extensively-focused plan on how to  get the better of Wang Yihan? On her part, Wang Yihan has herself spoken about her weakness, one of them allowing her opponents to reach match point - a weakness she did not allow Nehwal reach closer to.

5 WOMAN SUPPORT: If former India player Aparna Popat is Nehwal's idol (She has mentioned this to the London Olympic Games organisers to be posted on her profile), wouldn't it have been prudent on the part of the thinktank and the sports ministry to take P Gopichand and the Indonesian coach into confidence and allow Popat to be at the Games, not as a coach but as a well-wisher and moral booster. Having a woman and a player whom she idolises would have likely worked in Nehwal's favour. Unlike the lonely Saina, the Chinese women singles players, are one big group if not an army, and speak one language, helping them bond better that is so important during an even as big as the Olympics. Maybe, the sports ministry could have stepped in and borne Popat's expense considering Nehwal's strong medal-winning potential.

Related link: Saina Nehwal vs Wang Yihan http://l2012.cm/N7bt9L