More on Saina, from a TOI article not so long ago... It was actually quite a long one, but I have tried to include here for everyone's reading pleasure only the parts that had amusingly provided an insight (on a dedicated sportswoman and champion), when I had read it.... 
...Enjoy!
There are over a dozen boys in 19-year-old Saina Nehwal's life. They all have a name, but she calls each of them 'Partner'. There's probably a good-natured backslap, a sweaty high-five, no, no male locker-room joke but yes, loads of bonhomie. Chances are, when the sweaty dozen retire to the privacy of their changing room, the joke between them would be which of the lot was addressed as 'Bhaiyya' by the smash-happy shuttler.
"
I gained a lot by practising with boys," says Saina. "
Thanks to them I never had the problem of sparring partners." You can almost hear the collective cringe in the boy's locker room at the Gachibowli complex outside Hyderabad.
Saina Nehwal is famously friendless, though not lonely. It is in stark contrast to her more-known more or less
namesake,
Sania, who hails from the same city and attracts more attention. Saina, it seems, makes the news for not making the news.
So, what do you write about someone who's a self-appointed
Plain Jane?
For six days in a week, Saina's schedule does not change. The alarm goes off at 6.00 am. After downing a glass of milk, she goes off to sleep again. This time she slips into what is called yoga nidra (
yogic sleep). The one-hour process, Saina says, is very important. It's in this one hour that she assesses her previous day's practice, thinks about the best and worst sessions and focuses on the day's practice ahead.
She hits the gym at 4.30 pm. Four days of weight training and two days of running on the treadmill for about 70 minutes.
Sunday is a day of rest.
The biggest sacrifice Saina thinks she has made in her pursuit of excellence is turning into a meat-eater . Born in a vegetarian family, it was a hard decision not just for Saina but for her parents as well. But they understood. After all, her scientist father
Harvir Singh Nehwal is a former
state-ranking badminton champ from Haryana and mother
Usha Rani too has been a
state-level shuttler.
"
That's one sacrifice I had to make. I watched the Chinese and was convinced that if I have to beat them I should turn a non-vegetarian . They eat all kinds of food and I believe that's the reason why they are strong. Players need strength and the only way to get it is through eating meat. I eat a lot of chicken and I believe it has helped me to gain strength," says Saina, who has also given up junk food.
"
I don't remember when I last had an ice cream. Most of what I eat is insipid, tasteless. The only part of my diet I like is the aloo parantha my mom makes," she adds.
Though badminton is everything for her there's one thing she's sure she will never attempt: the role of a coach. "
I hate coaching. I can never imagine myself as a badminton coach. It's a tough job," she admits. She also says she doesn't know how to give back to the game that has given her so much. "
I don't know, but I will remain indebted to this sport. It has given me everything in life."
