Current crop of players lack attacking and all-round game, says Saina Nehwal

I feel the youngsters are relying a lot on drop shots and rally game, which is good but you need an all-round game, said Saina Nehwal

Hyderabad: Saina Nehwal has been the poster girl for Indian badminton since long before PV Sindhu emerged on the scene. The London Olympics bronze medallist was the lone flag-bearer on the international stage and Sindhu did a step better by bagging silver and a bronze at the successive Olympics.

However, the next big player in the women’s singles after these two is nowhere in sight. Saina too asserted that the current crop of players lack attacking and all-round game that is required at the international level for continuous success, but hoped that India will produce champions in the category in next five years’ time.

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“Yes, the gap is huge between us and the current crop of players. I feel the youngsters are relying a lot on drop shots and rally game, which is good but you need an all-round game. PV Sindhu and I play attacking game, if we want we can play aggressive game throughout the match. But that is not seen in these players. But there is good support now and a system in place. I think we will produce champions soon,” said the star shuttler.

When asked about her form, she said that she has been pushing hard in training sessions but her knee is not in good shape, but hoped she would bounce back soon. “Whenever I am training hard, my knee cartilage is swelling. So I am working on it. If I want to play against the best, I want to be in my best shape. I don’t want to play just for the sake of it and come out in the first or second rounds,” she explained.

Saina, the 33-year-old former World No.1, said that she feels happy when people say that her success made other players believe that they can achieve anything. “When we started playing badminton, we never thought of playing on the international stage. We were thinking about district or national level. But Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand) worked hard with me that helped me get success at a young age. I feel very satisfied when people say that my exploits have given the kind of self-belief to the Indian women shuttlers. We had success here and there when Prakash Sir and Gopi sir won medals. But there were none in women’s singles. What Sindhu and I have achieved has inspired many young girls to take up the sport. Now that we have better facilities and a system to support, if the player is good, they can achieve big results,” she added.