Mixed Doubles

It’s just that for someone who fancies fast-paced net dribbles,smashing skirmishes and quick-to-end rallies with barely half a dozen shots,Kashyap finds the contemporary women player’s games exceedingly drawn out. “I can’t watch women’s badminton — it’s so irritating! They’ll go on and on playing a rally,and just as you think it’s over,one girl will pick the shuttle inches above the ground at the last moment,and they’ll keep at it,” he chafes goodnaturedly,like tennis blokes once used to about the ladies’ moonballing lobs. There’s grudging appreciation for women’s doggedness and persistence in defence,but Kashyap will gladly stick to watching the bombastic game of men who love to flaunt their strokes. And move on to the next point,pronto.

Saina Nehwal,India’s No 1 women’s singles player,and considerably more famous as a World Top 5 player,is promptly and equally dismissive of the men’s game. “I don’t like watching men’s matches. I don’t learn anything useful,” she says disdainfully.

Yet,despite this typical Venus-Martian cleaving of shuttle’s paths,Nehwal and Kashyap remain close friends,confidantes and academy-mates who have come through eight years of regimented drills at their mentor Pullela Gopichand’s Academy in Hyderabad,and are now on the threshold of going to the Olympics as India’s leading hope for medals in singles; Nehwal,a more favoured contender than the certified underdog,Kashyap.

The two started out under Gopichand when Saina was 14,strong and resilient,but ungainly in her strokes,and Kashyap,17,with speed and strokes,but fragile and lacking in power. Put through exacting coaching regimens,the two addressed their individual weaknesses in training,even as the coach sought to ensure that none of his pupils,neither boy nor girl,ever regrets not having the last spurt of energy needed to fight till the end — an anaemia that was offered as excuse by several sportspersons of his generation. “There’s one thing about pupils from my academy — nobody can say that they are not fit. Anyone from my academy will be physically strong,and can match the best in the world,” says Gopichand.

“Be it Saina or me,everyone here fears the scary Tuesday runs,” Kashyap says with a laugh. A day in the week is demarcated for breaking one’s back in practice so they don’t give grief during competitions. It’s a Sunday,still two days away from the dreaded run-against-time and penalties (should you not come upto scratch). A day later,the two are made to retrieve shuttles dipping at the net,rotating to left and right for nearly three hours and doing that alone. Their coach takes pride in saying that Nehwal or Kashyap never use words like “exhausted” or “tired”,testified by Nehwal’s back-to-back championship wins. The pair will line up at the opening ceremony in London as two of the fittest athletes representing India at the quadrennial.

Kashyap,now 25,has played catch-up with 22-year-old Nehwal’s meteoric rise all these years,ever since she burst onto the national scene and showed promise at the international level. “She came up quickly,it wasn’t that soon for me,” he says,after having come through an anxious Olympic qualification face-off with Ajay Jayaram this summer. Nehwal seemed on course for London,since the Beijing quarterfinal four years ago,keeping her ranking safe and racking up enough wins in the circuit. “I’ve been to one Olympics,but this will be a special occasion for him. The first time always is,” Nehwal says,adding candidly that a stroke of luck (because of a Chinese opponent’s withdrawal) might have paved the way for him,but he will,like her,need to work supremely hard and play smart to make any headway at the Olympics.

“It’s always Saina’s only advice: there’s no way out without hard work. And then she’ll suggest ‘why don’t you do some extra workouts’ as an after-thought,” Kashyap says with a disbelieving shake of head. Indian badminton’s poster girl is so obsessed with going through the arduous grind,that she has,in a way,set an example where even natural talent — such as Kashyap’s with his stylish strokes — feels embarrassed if it isn’t backed with physical rigour. “She’s set the standard so high. First,she gave us the belief that we could win,and then she said,‘see,this is what is required’,” says the World Number 22. “In tournaments,semifinals are not enough now. No one knows I reached the semis in Indonesia (at the Djaram Indonesia Open in June),where she won the title. Saina has ensured that winning is normal,playing quarters and semis are not a big deal,” Kashyap says,with more than a hint of pragmatism,and no envy.

Nehwal may not sit through all the matches of her teammate when they travel together,but she is known to pass on small suggestions if she happens to spot a weakness in his opponents. “I also tip her off on certain strategies that I notice,” he says,adding that with Gopi they form a good plotting team. Nehwal has ensured that Kashyap now aspires to play those Saturdays-Sundays of the big semis and finals of tournaments — they clearly don’t like their weekends to be idle. “Kashyap’s come through a tough qualification,but has been playing well in the last few meets having beaten Chen Long (men’s World Number 3),” says Saina. She freely admits that she envies his strong smashing and attacking game and deft net-play — a contrast to how her matches usually pan out with marathon rallies and sturdy defence. Kashyap,on the other hand,learnt very quickly from her that the Chinese were far from invincible,and certainly not opponents to be feared. “There’s no block or intimidation any more,” he says.

This self-assurance is not second nature to Kashyap. Self-belief and mental strength in a match,on the other hand,have been Nehwal’s forte,and she wears a discernible aura of seriousness in her interactions. But,among friends at the academy,she is likely to loosen up and have a good time. Kashyap has been more of the brooding,boy-man,given to more worry and stress than most other 25-year-olds in the game. That’s one reason,he says,he avoids watching too many of Saina’s long-drawn encounters. “It’s tough to watch her matches. It might be thrilling for the audience,but I can tell you we — her friends,coaches and family — suffer. She plays long rallies,and every point is such a battle,that if you get too engrossed,your nerves will snap. Every ounce of hard work that she puts in is squeezed out of her and shows on her face. You don’t ever want her to lose,” he says,voicing an affection that has grown from watching her train so incredibly hard at the academy and knowing that unlike the dominant women players of the last generation — the two Chinese Zheng Nang and Xie Xingfang — she isn’t strokey,but makes up for that with unparalleled grit.

When Nehwal recently ground out a win in a 1:40 minute-long quarterfinal against the stubborn Chinese Shixian Wang at the Indonesia Open,Kashyap says he lost his voice because he had screamed himself hoarse. “We all went mad cheering for her that day,” he recalls.

They have a lot of other things in common. Both their mothers were the early engines of their careers. “In juniors,I was scared of my mom if I lost. She cared immensely for my career and made many sacrifices for me early in my career,” says Kashyap,who entered the crucial qualification meet — Delhi’s India Open — after having ensured that she was tucked away in the US,away from his battlezone. “She’d have been too tense to watch the matches and I would have gone mad watching her worry,” he says. The Hyderabadi has grown up in the game and is capable of mastering stress and anxiety and knows that badminton is an individual sport where one has to do all the fighting on the court by oneself. “I was Gopi bhaiya’s seniormost student. Then the numbers increased with everyone demanding his attention. It was tough to adjust,but you realise he has only 24 hours,and no one works harder than him from 5 am to 10 pm,” he says.

Likewise,managing his emotions have never been much of a challenge for him. “One needs to be disciplined,and keep emotions in check. Whatever you are feeling,you need to come back and train the next morning,” he says. Nehwal,on the other hand,has dealt with all her ups and downs — more the downs,by giving vent to emotions. She cries when she loses,is impatient coming to terms with barren patches when the wins dry up,or when she is waiting to make peace with stubborn injuries. She also fought with her coach,while struggling with one such injury. “That period was rough on her,” says Kashyap,who trained separately with her during the period,but was not made party to the media inquisition. “I wasn’t as popular,but Saina took it bad. It was a silly issue,nothing as big as it was made out to be,” he says.

Nehwal’s career graph would seem like an escalator,and Kashyap’s the winding staircase. True,he has the finesse in strokes,but Kashyap also grapples with keeping his asthma in check,and has battled injury and some stiff draws which led to first-round exits. The all-consuming sport and intense environs of the academy have meant that Kashyap has taken to playing poker to relax. “I’m scared I’ll be addicted to gambling,I get very competitive,” he jokes,adding that it is a boys-only pursuit at the academy. “Saina hangs out with all the guys and some of us spar with her,but I doubt if she even knows how poker is played,” he says.

Nehwal’s extra-curricular interests are entirely taken up by Bollywood,and staying updated on every tidbit of news in the movie industry. “She loves Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar’s movies. We watch many movies because that’s the only recreation we can fit in between training sessions. But I like old films,mostly war epics,or serious court-room dramas where if you’ve missed one line,you won’t pick up the thread. I don’t like masala movies at all,” he says.

It was one of these “masala movies” — Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara — however,that Saina dragged everyone to,that gave Kashyap his must-do on the wish list: “I want to do a road-trip to Spain some day. Just with the boy gang,” says the shuttler who was so exhausted at the end of playing multiple tournaments enroute to the Olympics qualification,that his coach readily permitted him a short holiday in Goa. “I’m always talking about holidays,as much as Saina talks about movies. If I do well at the Olympics,coach has promised to let me take a long vacation,” he says.

He’s also more inclined towards sports history,and knows his Olympics heroes well. “My favourite is the heptathlete Jackie Joyner Kersie,because she overcame asthma. Then there’s Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj,who saw several disappointments before he triumphed,and shuttler Poul-Erik Høyer who won the Olympics late in life,his aggression tempered by patience,” he says,glad that there’s hope for late bloomers such as him.

Nehwal,meanwhile,keeps it simple. “I missed out on the medal in Beijing. I want to win it in London,” she says. Four years of a prologue to the most important Olympics of her career,and she’s ready to script her own history,and star in it. Kashyap might insist he hates watching the women play,but he knows he’ll be watching Saina go for it from behind scrunched eyes with fingers tightly crossed,nails half bitten.