Difficult for Saina and Srikanth to qualify for Olympics: Ex-badminton coach Vimal Kumar

India`s star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth. Pics/Getty Images, PTI

Former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar feels that it will be very difficult for Saina Nehwal, 31, and Kidambi Srikanth, 28, to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics now that the is Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of the last two Olympic qualifying events, was postponed on Friday.

The tournament that was to be held in Kuala Lumpur from May 25 to 30, has been rescheduled due to a COVID-19 surge in the host country.

‘Not going right for them'

"It will be very difficult for both Saina and Srikanth because I think they have left it too late [to qualify]. Ideally, they should have aimed to qualify last year itself. I thought they got some extension, so they could make it up but that won't be the case now. Maybe, due to the pandemic or whatever the reason, it is not going right for them at the moment. Saina has won an Olympic medal earlier, so it won't be that bad [if she is unable to qualify]. For Srikanth, it will be a tough miss as he is at the peak of his career," Kumar told mid-day from Bangalore.

Vimal Kumar

In Kumar's opinion even if the Singapore Open (June 1-6), the last qualifying event for the Olympics, goes ahead as per schedule, the mandatory 21-day quarantine means that the players need to reach before May 10.

"I don't think they [Badminton World Federation] will conduct the Singapore tournament. And even if it does go ahead, the players need to reach Singapore early to complete their quarantine period as the situation there too is not great. Also, players from Europe and other places will find it difficult to travel. Even if BAI [Badminton Association of India] manages to get the quarantine waived, it will still be very tough for them to make it," explained Vimal, who had coached Saina at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore just before the 2016 Rio Olympics.

He felt that injuries have hampered the London Olympics bronze medal-winning shuttler and the World No. 19 has to now pick and choose her tournaments going forward.

Saina should be choosy

"The more I see Saina struggle on court, I feel bad. My advice to her would be to target specific tournaments just like tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are doing. She should aim to play in the big events like the All England, the 750 tournaments, etc and win those. She should forget about her world ranking. More than the rankings, winning some big events will be the best option for her. Playing 15 tournaments in a year is not something she can take," said Vimal.

"Her game is solid and she needs minor adjustments. The problem is physical training. She should not punish her body and must find the right balance. Without this pain, she can still beat the top players," said Kumar.