Panaji, Nov 25 Drawing parallels between her badminton experience of planning a rally and chess players planning their moves, former world number 1 and India’s well-known badminton star Saina Nehwal said she was keen on trying her hand at playing chess in the future.
Saina was in Goa to watch the final action in the FIDE World Cup 2025 and played the ceremonial first move in the match between GM Wei Yi and GM Javokhir Sindarov.
The two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist has been associated with chess in the past as a co-owner of Chess Super League team in 2021.
“I understand it takes a lot of courage, lot of calmness and you know sometimes when you are playing chess especially I saw that even in difficult moments you have to really control it, not show your emotions,” Saina said.
“I think mentally chess is one of the most difficult games. You have to plan your moves in advance. It's a lot like badminton but of course we have the rally to rally thing but in chess I think you have to plan all the moves a little faster and till the end,” Saina said on the sidelines of the final.
The 35-year-old admitted that she would have liked to watch an Indian player in action during her visit but added that she still came because watching the best play is an experience in itself.
Speaking about her association with chess, Saina said, “I have seen some matches of the league, and once you watch it for some time, you want to see the whole match, although it goes longer. But it's fun to see the matches, it's intense, in the end it becomes very intense. I really enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun, and hopefully in the future I get a chance to be a part of the Chess league or whatever, I am definitely looking forward to it.”
Saina, who also co-owns a Pickleball League team, felt that India has the potential to become the leading sports nation in the world and all it needs is a little push from the parents and the system to ensure that talented players focus on making a career in sports.
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