This is Saina’s best chance to end world championship medal drought

The controversies and euphoria surrounding the players’ auction of the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) meant that even the players involved took time to settle down and concentrate on the immediate task at hand. The inaugural edition of the cash-rich IBL will be preceded by the 2013 World championship to be played in Guangzhou, China and the draw of the tournament was issued on the same day of the players’ auction but without much fanfare. India would be fielding one of its biggest and strongest contingent for the championship with world number three Saina Nehwal leading the charge in the competition where Indian shuttlers have managed just two bronze medals so far. Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa surprised one and all by reaching the women’s doubles semifinal in London two years ago to bring home a  world championship medal after 28 years and badminton fans would be hoping that London Olympics bronze medallist Saina would add to that tally this August. The tournament has not really been a happy hunting ground for India’s shuttle queen, who has lost at the quarterfinal stage of the last three editions to a Chinese opponent, and she would be keen to change that record in their own backyard. [caption id=“attachment_990847” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Seeded third in the tournament, Saina would not be facing any Chinese opponent till the semifinal stage and her first real challenge in the competition is likely to come only in the quarterfinals just like in London. Reuters[/caption] In 2009, Saina was just recovering from chicken pox and could not match the pace of former world number one Wang Lin in Hyderabad. But the defeats in the next two editions would still be hurting the Indian ace as she went into the competition on the back of some fine performances in the run up to the competition that included impressive victories against the Chinese adversaries. This time around, Saina hasn’t been at her best in the last few months as she surrendered her Thailand Open crown and lost rather meekly in the Singapore and Indonesia Open – two tournaments which she enjoys playing the most.  However, just like the London Games, the luck of draw has been in Saina’s favour and the Bharat Petroleum employee has got almost six weeks to completely recover from her injuries and train hard for the championship. Seeded third in the tournament, Saina would not be facing any Chinese opponent till the semifinal stage and her first real challenge in the competition is likely to come only in the quarterfinals just like in London. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who would open her campaign with a bye in the first round should meet 8th seed Minatsu Mitani of Japan or 13th seed Bae Yeon Ju of Korea, two players she had overpowered every time she has been 100 percent fit going into the competition. Even Saina and chief national coach Pullela Gopi Chand are aware that this would be one of the best chance for her to clinch a medal at the world championship and given the fluctuating form of even the Chinese players, anything can be possible once she reaches the semifinals.  As for the other Indians, the doubles combinations are not expected to repeat the feat of Jwala and Ashwini yet, while it would be interesting to see how Sindhu performs after a long injury lay-off. The Asian junior champion has been out of action since the Sudirman Cup in May and would have to overcome the challenge of defending champion Yihan Wang in the third round to entertain any hope of finishing on the podium in her maiden appearance in the championship.