A lot of more attention will be on Sindhu and not so much focus on Saina. That thing can be good for Saina. She can just quietly progress well and not have any big expectations: U Vimal Kumar
With all the attention on Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and in-form Kidambi Srikanth to win medals for India in the BWF World Championships starting in Glasgow on Monday, Saina Nehwal may be quietly fancying her chances.
Having enjoyed an eight-and-a-half week break from competitive badminton – her last effort was the quarterfinal finish in Australian Open Superseries in June – the world No. 16 could well spring a surprise.
At least that's what her coach at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, U Vimal Kumar, feels.
"A lot of more attention will be on Sindhu and not so much focus on Saina. That thing can be good for Saina. She can just quietly progress well and not have any big expectations. You will get good results when you least expect them. Just prepare well and go and play," Kumar told DNA before leaving for Glasgow to accompany the only Indian silver medallist in the Worlds.
"Last time, in 2015, when Saina went, she had not gone beyond the quarterfinals (2011, 2013 and 2014) before that. Then, she got to the final. I am hoping that she can play to the potential," Kumar said.
Saina lost that final to Spain's Carolina Marin 16-21 19-21 to win the highest medal colour for India in the World Badminton Championships ever.
Beset with injuries since then, Saina might be short on confidence going into this week's tournament, where she has received a first-round bye and awaits the winner of Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet and Ukraine's Natalya Voytsekh in the second.
Add to that, her results this year have not been very encouraging. After winning the Malaysia Master Grand Prix Gold in January, the 12th-seeded Saina had one semifinal finish in Thailand Open GPG and three other quarterfinal results.
Known for being one of the mentally toughest in the circuit, Saina's lack of self-belief is being dealt with by Kumar.
"It is just the confidence with Saina. And, that can come the moment she gets a tournament win under her belt. That is how you build up your confidence. What I have been telling her is that 'you have lost matches that have all been very close'.
"I have been telling her that there's nothing to feel bad about it. In quite a few tournaments, she was tactically going wrong, losing from comfortable positions. Let's see how she plays. She has prepared quite well," Kumar said.
Sindhu, India's flag-bearer
With Saina being under the radar, all the spotlight is on Sindhu, who has surpassed her senior Hyderabadi shuttler in the rankings and has won two back-to-back Worlds medals – bronze in 2013 and 2014. The world No. 5 Sindhu is seeded fourth in Glasgow.
Kumar was optimistic about India's chances of winning medals in men's singles, women's singles and an outside chance in mixed doubles.
"PV Sindhu and Saina have both a decent draw up to the quarterfinals. In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth has a good draw if he plays to his potential.
"Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth can be tricky, they have a good chance to do well. Ajay Jayaram has not been playing that well and has not had any good results of late," Kumar, former India chief national coach, said.
"In men's singles, Lin Dan (7th seed), Lee Chong Wei (2nd seed), Chen Long (5th seed) have lost the odd matches. They have achieved everything that needs to be done. On their day, they can beat anyone. We could have a Chen Long-Lee Chong Wei quarterfinals.
"Srikanth is likely to run into Korean world No. 1 Won Wan Ho in the quarterfinals. Our players have a lot more ability," he added.
PLAYING TODAY (only Indians):
- Men's singles: 8-Kidambi Srikanth vs Sergey Sirant (RUS), Sameer Verma vs Pablo Abian (ESP)
- Men's doubles: Manu Attri/ B Sumeeth Reddy vs Chung Eui Seok/ Kim Dukyoung (KOR)
- Women's singles: Ritupurna Das vs Airi Mikkela (FIN), Tanvi Lad vs Chloe Birch (ENG)
- Women's doubles: Sanjana Santosh/ Arathi Sara Sunil vs Natalya Voytsekh/ Yelyzaveta Zharka (UKR)
- Mixed doubles: B Sumeeth Reddy/ Ashwini Ponnappa vs Sawan Serasinghe/ Setyana Mapasa (AUS)
- Mixed doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Maneesha K vs Tam Chun Hei/ Ng Tsz Yau (HKG), Yogendran Krishnan (MAL)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) vs Lu Ching Yao/ Chiang Kai Hsin (TPE)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal")
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}