Saina Nehwal has will to come back strong: Nandu Natekar

Legendary badminton player Nandu Natekar said that Saina Nehwal can come back strong after her knee surgery that hampered her career after last year’s Olympics.

“Saina can still come back. She is there. She has not lost her position that way. You take football players. Great players have laid up in bed for six months and have come back. It is the mindset that works. If you are destined to do, if you have the will, which Saina has, I am confident of her coming back,” Natekar told DNA the other evening celebrating his 84th birthday.

In the same vein, Natekar said about Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu: “Sindhu is too young to show these kinds of things. But she has natural height. Sindhu being younger makes a little bit of difference at that stage.”

Current players may be all about power but Natekar was all grace and skill during his playing days. But that does not matter to him. Natekar may not have won a Superseries titles like today’s badminton players from India do. Superseries was not in vogue during his playing days of the 1950s and 1960s.

But, he was a pioneer in Indian badminton, inspiring many shuttlers to take the game seriously.

Natekar said that the badminton scenario in India is changing for the better. “The speeds have changed, which we could never have handled. Those were the times. If we were born in this era, we would have adjusted to the badminton of present times. There is no question about it. Once you are a champion, you are always a champion,” said the Punekar.

Fitness is something that the current shuttlers give utmost importance to, as much as they focus on the skill aspects. “Good that there is a lot of competition and the happiest part is the physical fitness is looked after very well. Players are keen to perform. And the reward you get by winning these days probably makes it more interesting to put in an additional effort,” Natekar said.

Natekar took part in All England only once, reaching the quarterfinal. “I was not one to run after the sponsors. Now things have changed. It is good. There is more competition and they are allowed to participate. I only hope that it spurs up the younger generation to go to the levels,” said Natekar, who won six men’s singles national titles in 10 final appearances from 1953 to 1965 besides many doubles titles.

Natekar gave thumbs up to India’s head coach Pullela Gopichand and his efforts at producing shuttlers. “Prakash (Padukone) started his academy but did not produce many. The way Gopichand has done it, it is wonderful. I am told in other states also, academies are opened. Looks like that is the answer,” Natekar said.

Natekar, who opted to play badminton after also showing interest in tennis, said that the Indian men’s badminton scene is “good”.

“There are good quality players. They have to put in their best foot, put in a lot of effort and dedication. They cannot complain of competition, they get enough to play,” he said.

Natekar was a little disappointed at commoners not playing badminton now-a-days. Asked how popular badminton was in his playing days as compared to today, Natekar said: “It was extremely popular. You had hordes of people coming to watch. There were more spectators than players. Badminton was a simple game, commoners played a lot of badminton. Now, people don’t play in open areas and ordinary courts. They want wooden courts and other facilities as well.”

He wished that India win a gold medal in the next Olympics after Saina Nehwal won bronze in 2012 London and Sindhu, silver in 2016 Rio.

“The wish is there. It is a long, very tough road ahead. If it happens, nothing like that. We wish them well,” was Natekar’s concluding remark before joining his contemporaries to celebrate the birthday.