Making of a sporting star
Reviewed by Chandni S. Chandel

Saina Nehwal… playing to win 
By Saina Nehwal
Penguin Books. Pages 118. Rs 199

All of 22, bearing her share of travails was like a roller-coaster ride for Saina Nehwal. The Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, a standing ovation at Parliament are exceptional achievements at this age, but a lot of big and small sacrifices of a girl and her parents have gone into making her what she is. Yet, Saina could still have waited a few more years to release her biography. The 117-page book is a good keep for teenagers and prospective sportspersons. She nudges youngsters to go by their interest as she confesses that it was not pressure from parents but her interest that made them support her.

Some celebrities are destiny's children, but that was not the case with her as she inherited the game from her mother who gifted the art of hard work and her father taught her to find out ways around life. How a middle class family gets financial stability because of a famous member has been brought out vividly.

She has not forgotten to pay tributes to her coaches - Pulela Gopichand, PSS Nani Prasad, Mohammed Ali, SL Goverdhan Reddy and Mohammad Arif. She talks about how they provided strength off court as well.

The beginning is slow but the later part of the book is interesting as she talks about her middle class desires, her gradual elevation from a Maruti car to a Honda city to a BMW, how endorsements brought big money and how she has joined great sportspersons and Bollywood stars. Not incisive and detailed, there are no controversies raked up as is done by celebrity biographers. Editors have not knit it well, jumping from chapter to chapter and weaving in tit-bits of information to break monotony. A good, simple read.

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