Federer is my icon: Saina

World No.11 Saina Nehwal added another feather to her cap when she won the Commonwealth Youth Games title. On the verge of breaking into the coveted top-10 club, the badminton star spoke to Rajesh Pansare about life on and off the court

What are your expectations from the Junior World Championship that will be held in Pune at the end of this month?
Competitors from China, Indonesia and South Korea at the Junior World Cup have been playing at the senior level too. So it will be a tough competition. I’ll take it match by match. Let’s see how far I can go. Of course, I want to win this tournament. I will be playing in front of a home crowd and I will have good support.

You are on the verge of breaking into the top-10. How difficult will it be to maintain a top-10 ranking?
It will be very difficult. Now, I have to win big tournaments, including the Super Series. I’m 11th in the world. But as I am playing in the junior tournaments now, I may lose a few points. I am going to play two big tournaments next month and I hope to perform well so that I can maintain my ranking. I have to train even harder now.

What did you do differently this year? You have reached the No.11 ranking…
Last year I played all the top-players and stretched them to three games but lost close matches. Those loses made me depressed. But what I gained from those close defeats was a lot of confidence. This year we (along with her coach P Gopichand) worked on my weak areas like my backhand, defence and movement on the court. Though I have improved, I have still not reached the level I want to. The hard work has paid rich dividends for me this year.

Do people still confuse you with Sania Mirza who is also from Hyderabad? 
Not any more. I am playing very well now and people have started recognizing me now. But previously a lot of people used to mistake me for Sania. But I didn’t feel bad as I knew they will start recognizing me when I start winning tournaments. Once I won a junior tournament and she (Sania) had also done well. But in next day’s newspaper they published her photo and a report of my game. It was so hilarious. 

How instrumental has Pullela Gopichand (Saina’s coach) been in shaping your career?
In 2005, I joined him and you can see that I started performing better after he took me on board. My game improved under him and so did my physical strength. He taught me how to prepare before a match. I became much more focused and then the next year I won the Philippines Open.

You must have made sacrifices along the way…
I completely focused all my attention towards becoming a top player. My parents use to tell me ‘you will not get anything for free’. You have to work hard. I trained like there was no tomorrow between the age of 9 to13. But it was painful. At times my body used to ache the whole night. I couldn’t sleep. Moreover, academics have taken a backseat.
I didn’t have time to think nor did I have time to do things what other children of my age did. At times I wanted to enjoy like all other kids of my age. But now I’m very happy that I made those sacrifices.

When not playing what do you like to do?
I like to watch movies, especially those starring Shah Rukh Khan. I also enjoy watching comedy movies. I like to read books and listen to some music. I’m like any other girl. When I’m on tours, I carry DVDs of Bollywood movies. Watching movies helps me relax.

What do you have to say about the development of the sport in India?
The players have been provided excellent facilities and now it depends on how hard they train. They shouldn’t take inspiration from me, rather they must look at players like World No.1 Lu Lan of China.

Who is your sporting icon and why?
Roger Federer is my icon because he is very cool on court no matter what the match situation is. Besides, him, I’m also an admirer of my coach Gopichand, because after his victory in the All England Championships I was even more inspired to do better. I thought there should be someone doing well among the women as well.