Badminton Pros rope Saina Nehwal as mentor

As a mentor, Saina will oversee and monitor the players’ development, helping them build mental fortitude and excel in their game.

Hyderabad: Badminton Pros, the coaching academy conceptualized by Vijay Lancy and Anup Sridhar, roped in London Olympic bronze medallist stuller Saina Nehwal as their mentor on Wednesday.

She now joins fellow shuttlers Parupalli Kashyma, RMV Gurusaidutt whose aim is to provide the best of facilities for the budding shuttlers who want to make it big. As a mentor, Saina will oversee and monitor the players’ development, helping them build mental fortitude and excel in their game.

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Speaking after the announcement, Saina said that the youngsters now have much better facilities to achieve their dream. “When we started playing badminton, we never had such facilities and the shuttlecocks were very expensive. But now there are many academies and coaches with knowledge. The Badminton Pro has top coaches at all the centres. The likes of Kashyap and Gurusaidutt have the calibre to train top athletes,” she said.

Kashyap revealed that they were happy to see Saina come on board. “We had to force her to come on board. With her in the team, the youngsters will get great guidance,” said Kashyap. Gurusaidutt, who now trains Indian shuttlers and was seen by the court side along with Gopichand during HS Prannoy’s matches, said that he would give his best to help youngsters get the best of the facilities in realizing their dream.

Caption: (From left) Vijay Lancy, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt during a media event in Hyderabad on Wednesday.