Games that Nehwal and Anand must play
Two of India’s biggest sports icons are going through a lean patch and all sports-loving Indians are hoping fervently that they soon spring back to form. Badminton ace Saina Nehwal and world chess champion V Anand have performed poorly in recent tournaments, leading, unfortunately, to speculation on whether they have peaked out and are now on the decline. Nehwal crashed out of the Thailand Open, Indonesia Open and the Singapore Super Series in a row. In the process, she failed to defend the Indonesia Open title and dropped to the fourth position in international rankings. Anand has had a terrible time at the Tal Memorial Chess Tournament in Russia, losing to or drawing with competitors that he ought to have beaten on a normal day. He has demonstrated indifferent form since winning the world championship match last May, performing below par in other matches such as at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament earlier this year. At the Tal Memorial event, Anand conceded two straight shocking defeats to his rivals, and the best he can hope for now is a place among the bottom half. Distressing as the form of the two players has been, it would be foolhardy to write them off. Anand will get to redeem his image at the forthcoming world championship when he meets Magnus Carlsen. But he cannot forget the crushing defeat that Carlsen has handed him at the Tal Memorial tournament. These losses play on the mind and can have a psychological bearing on a player months before the big game. But Anand is a veteran and has — thanks to his calm and affable disposition — managed to emerge from many crises in the past. There is no reason why he cannot bounce back this time too. Ditto for Nehwal, who had to exit in the quarter-final stage itself in the Singapore Super Series. But what should worry Nehwal is her failure to often capitalise on the leads that she gains both in terms of points and games. Somewhere, she’s giving up.
As tennis great Novak Djokovic said after his defeat in the semi-final round to Rafael Nadal in the French Open, rackets (and chess pieces and cricket bats and balls for that matter) are mere pieces of furniture. The real game is played out in the mind and by the mind. The difference between winning and losing is often determined by the mental state of the player. We have seen mind-games that Australian cricketers play before a big match, and India has particularly been the target of such tactics by Australian and even Pakistani players. Tennis legend Bjorn Borg used to often frustrate his opponents by his unflappable exterior and steely determination. He was not the one to break his racket in disgust over a wrong call or jump in ecstasy over a point earned. Both Nehwal and Anand are in many ways similar in temperament to Borg. But then Borg never won the US Open, while both Anand and Nehwal have at least once won every important tournament there is in their respective sports!