New Delhi: Saina Nehwal, a trailblazing Indian shuttler, believes that if she had chosen to play tennis instead of badminton, she may have been a better athlete.
Nehwal’s badminton career is very good. She not only became the first Indian woman shuttler to hold the top spot in the global rankings, but she also became the nation’s first female athlete to win an Olympic gold.
Saina said, “There are moments when I think it would have been better if my parents had enrolled me in tennis,” during her Rashtrapati Bhawan “Her Story–My Story” presentation.
“I believe I had more strength and there is more money.” I may have performed better in badminton than in tennis,” she said.
Although Saina has encouraged a lot of people to play badminton, when she took up the racquet for the first time at the age of eight, she had no role models.
“I didn’t have any role models to look up to when I started. There was no one for me to look up to and say, “I want to be the world number one badminton player or an Olympic medallist. I hadn’t seen anyone do that before,” Saina said.
In addition to her bronze from the London Olympics, Nehwal won three golds in the Commonwealth Games, including two in the women’s singles, and a bronze and a silver at the World Championships.
She encouraged the children in attendance to choose a career in athletics.
“I constantly advise them to focus on their games. We barely earn 3–4 medals, while China wins 60–70. Newspapers don’t publish the names of the numerous physicians and engineers that exist,” the woman said.
“I especially want girls to step forward, start exercising, and pursue sports.” We are here for the kids now; they have so many medal winners, Olympians, and world champs to aspire to,” she said.
Looking back on her career, she said that her diligence made up for her lack of skill.
“I enjoyed working hard, but I’m not very talented, so I still need to practice a lot.” I had to do an action 1000 times if a skilled player was performing it 100 times. However, I like a good challenge. My coaches like my never-say-die mindset.
