Small changes in game worked well for Saina Nehwal, says national coach Pullela Gopichand
India’s national coach Pullela Gopichand is completely satisfied with the elevated performance of Saina Nehwal who recently won Women’s Singles title at Swiss Open GP Gold in Switzerland.
The coach said that small changes in Saina’s game worked really well for her in getting such a remarkable victory.
Gopichand, who is also former All England Open champion, has been working with Saina for the last few years and has tried his best to polish the skills of the shuttler in all aspects of the game.
Saina, the only Indian shuttler who has won many Super Series titles, could not perform well in the last 12 months because she was suffering with injuries.
However, she kept herself busy in training sessions and worked really hard to eliminate her weaknesses for the last few months and has finally got the prize.
The 22-year-old Indian defended her Swiss Open title and is in good shape to keep the hopes alive for winning a medal at 2012 London Olympics.
Saina remained struggling against the Chinese shuttlers over the years but did not give up and has got an elevated level of play to challenge them.
In the title contest of Swiss Open, Saina emphatically overpowered World Number Three Wang Shixian, who was the favourite to win the final battle.
While talking about Saina’s performance in the Swiss Open final contest, Gopichand said that he is happy with the way she won the battle.
He said, “It is a very creditable victory considering the conditions. The shuttle was keeping low. Overall, she was consistent throughout the tournament.”
Gopichand also expressed that Chinese females are dominating the world of badminton and you must beat them if you want to win a major tournament.
The coach said, “If you have to win major tournaments, you have to beat the Chinese players regularly. We did not make any big changes in her game, but we keep on working on her game. I hope she carries forward this momentum.”
Saina attained a timely victory as she desperately wanted to get her confidence back before Olympics, which is just four months away.
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