Saina Nehwal back in April had decided to skip the selection trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, thus ending her chances of defending her CWG title.
The 32-year-old Hisar-born shuttler, a two-time CWG gold medallist and 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist, on Thursday showed signs of regaining her form with a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao in the Singapore Open. She defeated the fifth seed 21-19 11-21 21-17 to mark her first appearance in the quarterfinals of a Super 500 event in over two and a half years, where she will meet Japan’s Aya Ohori.
Her husband and coach Parupalli Kashyap, who has also won Gold at the 2014 CWG, opened up on Saina missing the 2022 edition in Birmingham.
“It’s about the amount of disrespect shown to a player. It’s about your own people treating you like s***," Kashyap was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Earlier on Wednesday, Saina had downed compatriot Malvika Bansod in the previous round, the same opponent to whom she had shockingly lost to back in January at the India Open.
“She’s been in tears often, and the issue of non-selection crops up in conversations every second day when she speaks. It’s very very tough to even practice, and you are not sure, mentally, whether you are preparing to fight your own people or opponents. Your intentions in the match go all wrong in such times, and it’s a terrible mind space," he said.
“It meant a lot because BAI based their entire selection on that one loss in January. Saina wanted to prove a point, and the pressure showed in the first game. She could play freely only in second," Kashyap said.
“It’s a wrong notion that she’s arrogant because she doesn’t talk that much. She just minds her own business. No doubt what happened spurred her on, but this situation was not required. They should’ve given her minimum respect of (having) a chat. If you want to be strict I understand, but a simple chat is not a free ride. You could’ve disciplined her in a chat, speaking to her. No one replied to her messages. It’s extremely hurtful," he added.
Saina, a former world number one, has been battling a series of injuries and lack of form in the past few years, which forced her to skip the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games, in April.
In the last three years, Saina’s best performance had been a semifinal finish at Orleans Master Super 100 last year. She had also reached the quarterfinal stage at Malaysia Masters and Barcelona Spain Masters in 2020.
“There was no conversation from BAI saying ‘this is what we are thinking’ or ‘this is what we want to do’. No coach watched her at the All England Open and there was no review of her performance," he said.
“Yes, Saina won’t be satisfied with just one win. It might mean nothing in the larger picture. She wants to win tournaments and we are getting there. She’s only 30-40 percent of her ability, I’ll say.
But did we forget basics of badminton and who can win medal when selecting the squad? She’s won 11-12 tour titles, and is a multiple medallist at the Games. It’s taken time to recover from the nonsense of non-selection. I don’t think she’s still recovered from how she was treated," he added.
“It might well be a blessing in disguise. Or we just look at the torture like that now. But maybe it’s good she’s not going to CWG and can focus on the World Championships. She knows she can beat the top players, and has never respected any opponent to think she’s unbeatable. Today from the first aggressive point, she made her point," Kashyap said.
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