Former coach Vimal Kumar says he is happy to see Saina Nehwal focus on game despite many distractions

Bengaluru: Former national badminton coach Vimal Kumar Thursday lauded Saina Nehwal for not letting her relationship with fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap affect her game, amid reports that the two are tying the knot in December. “I knew about their (Saina and Kashyap) relationship. One good thing about it is, Saina managed it very well. She did not get distracted with it. Her priority was sport and she gave hundred per cent to it,” he told PTI at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence. [caption id=“attachment_3949773” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Vimal Kumar and Saina Nehwal. AFP[/caption] Saina shifted from Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train under Vimal Kumar in 2014 before her return to Hyderabad to once again train under Pullela Gopichand last year. Kumar has been instrumental in helping Saina achieve World No 1 ranking in April 2015 and win a silver at the World Championship. “Normally, such attractions and relationships among teens are a great distraction, but Saina drew inspiration from it and reached many milestones in her career,” he added. Recently, Saina had included Kashyap’s name in her thank you note on twitter along with coach Gopichand and her physios after clinching a bronze in Asian Games. “I would like to thank Gopi Sir for all the hardwork and support … also @parupallik for giving me great match inputs and for helping me in sessions before the #AsianGame2018 … lot of efforts of Physios would like to thank @ArvindDNigam4 and Kiran challagundla sir,” Saina wrote on Twitter. Kumar said it is important not to forget about one’s goals in life. Kumar said he is happy that Saina is getting married to Kashyap because he has known them for a long time. He advised Kashyap to switch to coaching after marriage but expect Saina to continue playing for a couple of years more.