In today's IBL clash, Saina has more to lose than Sindhu

Ever since the countdown for the inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League started, the marquee match of the 18 day competition was always going to be the showdown between India’s shuttle queen Saina Nehwal of Hyderabad Hot Shots and the anointed princess PV Sindhu of Awadhe Warriors. The proposed match up on India’s Independence Day is all the more special because this would be the first time that the country’s two biggest women’s singles stars would face each other in a competitive game. Though both Saina and Sindhu come from the same stable called the Gopichand Badminton Academy, there is very little similarity in their game and even their approach on the court. While Saina generally tends to outlast her opponents by playing long rallies, Sindhu is an aggressive player who relies on her quality strokes and half smashes to put pressure on her opponent. [caption id=“attachment_1035267” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina Nehwal has more to lose than PV Sindhu. Getty Images[/caption] In fact, for quite a few years the training timing of both the players was different and even now they tend to train separately and hardly play practice games during training. There is not much point in speculating over the reasons behind such an arrangement but Sindhu has already made it amply clear that she is looking forward to face the senior pro, which would provided Sindhu an opportunity to test her mettle against the player she has grown in the shadow of. But thanks to the developments in the last one week, the stakes have just got higher. Last week, Sindhu achieved a milestone that Saina has been chasing for over four years now when she grabbed the bronze medal in the 2013 World Badminton Championship and quickly set tongues wagging about whether the baton of being India’s best player already passed to the 18-year-old. And Saina would be keen to quickly mute those voices immediately and would not get a better chance than a one-on-one showdown, despite the length to which she has gone to play down the significance of the first ever match-up between the two. Ever since the retirement of nine-time national champion Aparna Popat, Saina has been the undisputed queen of Indian badminton and hasn’t lost to an Indian player since her reversal against Trupti Murgunde in the Inter-Petroleum tournament four years ago. It is extremely important for Saina to protect that record because irrespective of the gap between her and Sindhu in the world ranking, her perceived commercial value in India could well depend on her head-to-head record against the one player capable of challenging her achievements on the international circuit. Thursday’s face off is also vital for Saina’s confidence after the disastrous world championship campaign. Saina hasn’t been in the best of form this season and a spate of injuries since her bronze medal winning performance in London has only added to the pressure on the world number four. Sindhu on the other hand would be smacking her lips at the prospect of drawing first blood against the Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Even a defeat would not really hurt Sindhu as she would still go into the match as an underdog, but for Saina the loss could go well beyond the one point her team would lose in the tie.