Saina Nehwal Going Through Toughest Phase of Her Career: Vimal Kumar

Saina, currently ranked 20th in the world, was knocked out of the first round of the ongoing second Thailand Open. She had earlier fallen in the second round of the first Thailand Open, which was also her first tournament since the All England Championships in March 2020.

Kumar said that Saina looked "out of shape" in Thailand. "It is not going to be easy for her to bounce back. I have always said that if she has no pain, she will play well. More than the pain though she didn't look very fit to me. Maybe after the Covid issue and all she is still recovering from it," Kumar told IANS.

A two-time national champion, Kumar felt Saina is going through the toughest phase of her career. "I think so. Things have not been going well for her for the past couple of years. She needs confidence to get going and the last she had a good result was in 2019 at the Indonesia Masters," said the man who won the national title in 1988 and 1989.

"The workouts, physical training and other things have to be really specific. She has to plan all this a lot better and that is the only way she can come out of this. Losing more matches like this will affect her confidence. It is not only just physical, there is a lot of mental aspects [at play] as well. She is a strong girl but these results can affect her," he said. IANS

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