Parupalli Kashyap revels in coaching role after helping Saina Nehwal clinch historic Asian Games bronze

After cruising past Fitraini Fitrani in the second round at the 2018 Asian Games, Saina Nehwal had a bigger challenge waiting for her — a quarter-final scare to deal with. In her illustrious career, Nehwal has been on the losing side of two back-to-back quarter-final clashes at the Asian Games. Add six consecutive losses in the last-eight stage of the BWF World Championships and that should explain why the clash against former world champion Ratchanok Intanon held utmost gravity. [caption id=“attachment_5310751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina Nehwal poses with her bronze medal during a press conference in Hyderabad. AFP[/caption] Trailing 3-11 against Intanon, all the memories of losing quarter-finals kept kicking in for Nehwal, who looked off-colour in the early exchanges. But slowly, the 28-year-old tweaked her positioning and bagged a slew of points to erase the huge deficit, assuring India of a historic medal at the Games. She eventually lost to Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-final but she was content with bronze at the Asian Games, which wouldn’t have been possible to achieve without her unparalleled grit and long-time partner Parupalli Kashyap’s invaluable coaching. “I followed Saina’s matches closely at the World Championships and then later discussed it with Gopi (Pullela Gopichand) sir. I wanted to help her sharpen her movements after the Worlds” Kashyap, who has been sharing the same training court with Nehwal for 13 years, told Firspost. Recovering from a back injury he sustained during the Singapore Open, Kashyap utilised his free time in helping Nehwal prepare for the Asian Games. In the absence of Gopichand, Kashyap would take charge of Nehwal’s training. Despite winning the Commonwealth Games gold and reaching the final of the Indonesia Masters in January, Nehwal has had a topsy-turvy season so far this year. There have been flashes of brilliance on multiple World Tour events but it fizzled out as the tournaments progressed. A few questions have also been raised about her consistency in the top rung of the women’s singles circuit. They say fortune favours the bold and Nehwal has always reaped the benefits for being the fighter she is on the court and off it. “There was never any doubt about Saina’s handling of mental pressure. She never backs off, that’s why we focused on her technical abilities,” said Kashyap. After making a good start at the World Championships, Nehwal was ousted by an imperious Carolina Marin in the quarter-finals. The Spaniard hardly broke a sweat in both the games and Nehwal’s 11-21, 6-21 defeat indicated that there was a dire need of alterations. It was then that Kashyap observed that Nehwal’s sedate gameplay was predictable for her opponents. “We thought multishuttle drills would help her move a little faster because she was slow against Marin and she just couldn’t impose her game at all. There were a couple of areas where Saina was moving slower or reacting slowly,” the 2014 Commonwealth gold medallist explained. Kashyap would analyse Nehwal’s performances in detail and discuss with Gopichand. “We also needed to get rid of her service errors and retrieving errors,” he said. Soon after discussing the plan with the coaches, the 32-year-old had 10 days to prepare Saina for the Asian Games, with the primary focus on getting her sharper angles and quick movements. That’s one area where the hard-hitting shuttler lacked precision. The 2018 Asian Games was a tad different from other tournaments where India have tasted success. The women shuttlers never really made their presence felt until Nehwal ended the 36-year-old wait with her fast-paced and calculated gameplay. “There were a few things I noticed like her positioning on the mid-court. As a player, we don’t see the entire picture. So, it is always helpful for us to have another shuttler to give their opinion,” he said. Nehwal’s 17-21, 14-21 defeat in the semi-finals didn’t come as a surprise for the Indian camp as she had been struggling to crack Tai in her last 10 encounters. More than the result, Kashyap emphasised on the implementation in a space of 10 days. “Some of her crosscourt shots against Ratchanok, quick movements against Nozomi Okuhara and Tai were signs of progression. These things were evident but the old habits kept kicking in,” he added. By old habits, Kashyap means the rare lapse of concentration and the robustness required for a physical battle against defensive shuttlers. Nehwal was caught off guard during crucial moments at both World Championships and the Asian Games. “Once you’re a little out of breath, you tend to lose focus for that short period. Also, you are habituated to a certain style of play. So, it takes months and months to perfect the positioning area. Everything is instinctive when we’re on the court because there is no time to think. It is tough to implement everything in a short span. The former World No 1 shuttler relies heavily on her foot movements and for that, a variety of mobility exercises are recommended by the coaches and physios. Having witnessed Nehwal since her junior days, Kashyap had a few training drills in mind for the longer run. “For her to be able to turn quickly on the backhand side, we had planned a lot of on-court and off-court drills. Then we focused on the first receiving of the services. Being a rally player, she has an attacking game and likes to retrieve.  You have to start the attack right from the receiving of the service,” said Kashyap. After earning a well-deserved bronze medal at the Asian Games, Nehwal took to Twitter to thank her coaches and Kashyap for helping her achieve the historic feat.

Kashyap admitted that he is interested in coaching after his playing career ends. “For a coach, Saina is one of the best trainees. She will follow the instructions precisely and adhere to the plan. She’s open to all the ideas and implements it quickly. Gopi sir was planning the sessions and I was helping her execute the drills to her on the court. With a number of notable World Tour events lined up for the European circuit, Kashyap’s inputs are expected to come handy yet again.