PV Sindhu’s been beating Akane Yamaguchi the last couple of times, but the Asian Games is a different beast. (Source: File Photo)
Like every other big badminton tournament in the past, the business end narrows down its focus on India’s two singles stars. The most recognisable faces in Indian badminton, the only ones with bonafide renown. The Asian Games had been a tad different – India had failed to win a medal at all junctures of Saina and Sindhu;s careers; when Saina had started beating the Chinese but imploded in Guangzhou, when Sindhu had finished off the Chinese but crumbled in Incheon.
At Jakarta, always a happy hunting ground for Indians, the two turned up again and ensured two medals for the country – a stunning turnaround from the last week when India had pretty much gone down in every category and the team events even before the bugle was blown at the Istora.
Nehwal beat Thai stroke-maker Ratchanok Intanon 21-18, 21-16, while Sindhu logged in another self-flagellating and utterly needless second set against another Thai talent – Nitchaon Jindapol, slotting a quarters win at 21-11, 16-21, 21-14.
Saina could not check who the last player to win an Asiad medal was – because coach Gopichand had told her that it’s an important event and she could do without distractions. She was so zoned in that she noticed that Ratchanok against whom she has a swell record, could pose a variety of challenges: the Thai was playing well against Sung Ji on Saturday, she was rallying well, she had rhythm. It was more than her opponent that had narrowed Saina’s focus down – India needed a medal at the Asiad. Even the fact that she had a decent record against the Thai, crossed her mind as a pressure wave. Accumulated experience was weighing her down rather than her thriving in the knowledge of that wisdom.
She trailed by 10 points in the second, but would decide to fight it out. Saina’s always had Ratchanok’s number, and order was restored when she started believing in it herself, once again. An alert Saina is seriously more dangerous than a scattered, but relaxed Saina. And soon she would be setting herself a Monday date against Tai Tzu Ying who decimated Nozomi Okuhara 21-15, 21-10.
“She’s world No 1 player, but let’s see. I gave her good competition in the Asian Badminton Championships,” Saina would say.
Sindhu playing later, would make a mess of a nice 11-7 lead in the second. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so frustrating every time Sindhu pooled a bunch of errors around her and then splashed the resultant panic around – to prolong a match that a sharp Sindhu would finish in two-third’s that time.
But between feeling she could finish off the match, and the tall champ actually wrapping up a day’s play, there is a yawning gap of impossible errors and for the opponent, a bunch of possibilities. Jindapol was about to find out, how much she can get away with flattering, before Sindhu browbeats her into deceiving.
“I got nervous and suddenly started giving points. I should’ve just kept going,” she would say later.
Sindhu’s been beating Akane Yamaguchi the last couple of times, but the Asian Games is a different beast – there’s a reason no one since Syed Modi has medalled here. “Rally player who can hit very fast,” Sindhu would appraise her, well aware that the Japanese team would be ready with a fresh strategy while unleashing crazy-ball Yamaguchi on her.
But she would utter the magic words : “It will be a proud moment for the country if both of us can be in final. But it’s not enough winning any medal. It should be the best medal, not just a medal…”