aina!

India's Saina Nehwa/ takes the women's singles title at the 2014 Star Australian Badminton Open

• BY UTTAM MUKHERJEE

Sunday, 29 June wa.s a proud day for lnclia as badminton player 24-year-o ld Saina

Nehwal became the first non- Chinese p layer to win the women's singles cide a[ a Super Series in 2014, after defeacing Spain's Carolina Marin 21 - 18, 2'11 1 in 43 minutes.

The pair had me[ once before, and Saina also won in that instance. The first game of d1.e women's singl es finals had some semb lance of a fight beLween six- seed Saina and Carolina; the second game, however, was quite o n e sided Saina m oved around d1e court quickly and remrned d ifficult shots easily. Her younger opponenc, considered one of the feistiest players ou the c ircuit, had played well uncil d ie semi -finals, but struggled to ma[ch Saina.

In the first game, Carolina narrowed the gap time and again but Saina was ab le to e11.7J lo it her weaknesses to t he hilt, especially a round the net. Carolina did not help herself as she comm itted a service er ro r to gift an easy point to Saina This ruffled her con fidence and the rhythm of her serves. Carolina p layed some good strokes but they were neither co n sistent n or en ough co snatc h au advantage. Saina on the other band made few unforced errors and was ruthless in smash ing he r opponent.

For eve r y po int that Carolina won she le[ out a vicrorious shout, but Saina ,vas gene ra!Jy composed except fo r a couple of times when she pumped the air after winning a major point. After winning the championship, Saina let one a viccory cry and d1.rew her racquet into the crowd. Except for the initial exuberance soon after her victor y, Saina remained quite calm and composed thereafter.

"T h is is one v ictory which answered all che doubts," Saina said. ''There were many who thought I could never win again. This is a very special triump h for me becau se l believed l could win very soon and it happened".

When asked how it felt to win the Australian Super Series, she said chat the victor y was quite unexpected and although she felt happy to have won, the feeling of winning had not yet sunk in. "Surely this was d1e biggest challenge because l had to prove that I still am one of the best p layers in t he wor ld," a confident Saina stated.

Her march to the finals was dramatic. Tn the quarter- finals, Saina had vanquished Japan's Eriko Hirose in straight sets: 2118 and 2 1-9. In the semi- finals, Saina p layed cautiously against the number one seed, \'{fang

Shixian from China Saina won the grue!Jing match 2 1- 19, 1621 and 2 l - 15 This was a major v ictory considering her opponent was better ranked, and the stadium reverberated with loud cheering for Wang ShLx ian.

Corning to Australia for the championship, her parents felt that sh e did not stand a chance of winning but could o n ly play her best. Saina lightheartedl y told the media that she would party all night to celebrate d1is surprise win.

Saina complained about d1e blisters on her feet that caused much agony t hroughout the tournament. Dming the semifinals she had co cake time out during the m atch as her feet had to be attended co by her physio She said that her feet h u rt as she wa lked from her hotel co the stadium! Saina thanked h e r p hys io profusely saying that without her help, and words of encouragement, s he would no[ have been able to p la y in th e finals. Bue wh ile she was on court destroying her opponent, no o ne realised that her feet were sore and in bandages!

Few in Australia discuss tbe game of badminton.

Bur leading up to the Scar Australian Open Badminton Super Series Champjonship, l was amused to hear my colleagues, who are cl.iehard rngby followers, cal.king about badminton Earlier in the week a leading Sydney newspaper had carried an arcicle on Lin Dan, the bad boy of badmincon, and Olympic bronze medallist, Saina, who were in town for the competition fro m 2 4- 29 June. The $750, 000 tournament in Australia was the eighth Super Series tour nament tbis year and hugely popular.

The Spore Centre in Sydney

Ol ympic Park drew a record crowd fo r the Superseries finals and unlike previous years, d1e capacity c rowd h ad a sizeable number of people of Indian o rigin. I was als o pleasantly surprised to see two larg e Indian flags prominentl y cLispla)1ed in the stands to c heer on Saina Nehwal in th e finals. This atmosp here was in coucrast to the earlier qnalif)~llg rounds w h ere Saina was cheered lo u d ly b y just cwo very endrnsiastic supporters ! Ia d1e climax of the Australian Open Badm inton championship, the bad boy of badm inmn, Lln Dan won against Indonesia's Simon Santoso: 22-24, 2 1- 16, 21 -7(p icmred right) The first game was a see-saw battle where Simon upstaged the double O l ymp ic and five time world champion. But in tl1e next two sers Lin Dan proved to us wh y he is considered a great. lt was the finest exhibition of strokes that one could hope to see.

I alwa)'S look forward to the men's double s as they are fast and furious. Although my favourite doubl es player, Kido from 1ndones ia , losr in t he semi -finals, I was mesmecised by the Korean pair, Yong DaeLeeand Yeon Seong Yoo who won comfortab ly 2 1 - 14, 21 - 18.

For the past three year s r have been attending the Australian Badminton Open, and this was cbe first year when China clid not dominate the finals. lt was good to see representation in the finals from many cmmtries across the world.

Here is some sp icy news that 1 came across - Saioa Nehwa l has just been named on the lnclian

FH]v[ 1 00 Sexiest Women's list. Ac number 85 Saina is ahead of Miley Cyrus and o nly five spots behind Be yonce on the list!

And which imernacional sportswoman has the most Facebook followers? 1f you thought it was o ne of the Williams sisters or Anna Kournikova you are wrong. ft is Saina Nehwall

~oBY &...'II'' RITAM MITRA

Ir's the fastest and one of the most brutal spores in the world The "ball" is frozen before play and frequentl y travels at over 160 km/h. The average professional p layer loses about three kilos d uring a game, while there's a 68 per cent chance tl1at they will lose at least one tooth during their career Dming a regular season at me top level, blows to the bead have resulted in up to 88 p la}rers missing 1697 games due to concuss ions. And did we mencion that it's all played on an unfo rgiving s urface rhat often exacerbates injuries?

Ice hockey may not be the most common spore in Australia, bur yo u should expect to see a lot more of it as the National Hockey League begins making its way onto television se ts around the country. Fot 14- year -old Mohak Issar, though , ice hockey has already been hjs biggest passion for half rus lifetime, and his recent selection in the NSW U nder - 15 Seate Ice Hockey team is only the latest in a string of exci ting ach ievements for th is talented ad1lete.

This month J\fohak will be competing in the Kurt DeFris lee Hockey Championships talcing place from July 9- 12 in Newcastle. He will be up against teams from all the Australian states Having already represented NSW in 2013, :tv[oha.k has taken the achievement in his stride - bm it does not mean be was any less thrilled abom making the final cut of 20 players, after raking pare in three separa re tryoncs.

" l was so excited. I r's a different, higher age group. I didn't diink I was going to make it and I was jumping with reli ef," Mohak said. "My friends and family we r e really happy for memy dad was so happy, it was all we could talk about for cbe next few days!"

Mohak bega n playing ice hocke y after attending a frunily friend's training session back in 2007. Asked by his fathe r, Puneet, whether he was interested in caking up the sport, Mnhak had no hesitation in saying yes. Although he began plaring for fun, and only lacer began caking it more seriously, Mohak was always drawn to the nuances of the game.

"lt's a different kind of sport - not many sports a.re on ice. It's the fastest sport the wotld, and it gives me an adrenaline rnsh. Tc's very unique".

In 2013, Mohak competed in the 13'" International Friendship Games in Canada, where he played almost daily for two weeks agaimt teams such as Canada, Japan, Soud1 Korea, New Zealand and die U nited St.'ltes.

The NSW team p laced third in me competition, and it ignited Mohak's belief that he co uld p lay against bigger, stronger p layers at higher levels.

"Now tl1ac T' ve scatted playi ng ice hockey witl1 contact (allowed between p layers), it's gotten a lot roug her. Now that I've built up in age groups, there's a lot more contact. The first ye ar 1 played contact, l was pretty scared, bm as die years progress, you get used co it and you don't get as scared".

It hasn't been an eas)' roadMobak trains at least s i x days a week, including sessions both on the ice and off the ice. B y waking up early each morning, Mohak is able to maintain his smilies m Brothers College, Blacktown, and improve hi s ice hockey skills.

"I get up in the m orning, generally ac around 5am, so it doesn't dash widi school. You should gee up ea.rly if you want to become an athlete - in the morning generally yo u're free, you can praccice and train maybe one hour everyday".

Along me way, Mohak bas had plenty of support from his comm itted father, as well as bis coach , Frankie, who trams with Mohak almost every morning.

Looking abead, 14-year-oJd Mohak, whose favourite NI-IL team is the Anaheim Ducks, i s extremely amb itious and motivated.

" There are trials in October for the Under- ! Ss youth Australian team l'vfy goa.l is to get into that ream eimer tliis year or next year".

Tndian Link wishes Mohak the very best in the upcoming state champion shi ps.