The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Saina Nehwal down with chicken pox

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Saina Nehwal down with chicken pox

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

Saina Nehwal

HYDERABAD: The grim face of India’s National badminton coach Pullela Gopi Chand said it all on Thursday morning at the Gopi-Nimmagadda Academy in Gachibowli.

His main hope in the women’s singles for the forthcoming WBF World championship, Saina Nehwal could not come to the training session for the third straight day and the medical report says that the World No. 6 is down with chicken pox.

But Gopi says that the picture is not as alarming as is being made out to be and asserted that Saina will be fit for the championship.

“Definitely, it is a bit disappointing to see Saina missing her training since July 28. She was initially running a temperature and only now it has been diagnosed as chicken pox,” Gopi Chand told The Hindu.

Making one tired

“I won’t say the situation is causing concern because Saina is expected to be back in a couple of days for regular training. But the main worry is that chicken pox makes one really tired, and we will be able to assess how well she has recovered from this, only after some training sessions after her return,” Gopi remarked.

“But, considering that Saina is a world class athlete, she should be able to overcome the physical stress and also be in the right frame of mind for the championship,” he hoped.

No cause for worry

Dr. Harvir Singh, father of Saina, said there is no cause for worry. “My daughter is not on any medication but is just taking rest. And, she should be back very soon, given her fighting spirit to overcome hurdles.

“What was disappointing is that we were not able to celebrate the official confirmation of the Arjuna Award to Saina and the Dronacharya Award to Gopi,” he pointed out.

For the other trainees at the academy, including Gutta Jwala and V. Diju, it was business as usual as they continued their training sessions with all seriousness.

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