In a chat with mid-day on Saturday, Frost, fondly called Mr Badminton, expressed his views on what Saina Nehwal needs to do to prolong her career
Morten Frost
Danish badminton great Morten Frost, 60, has been there, done that. After winning the All England title four times - 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1987 and a lot more prestigious titles, the former World No. 1 took to coaching and trained Danish, Malaysian and South African teams. He has now taken up a consultancy role at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bangalore as a part of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) and PPBA initiatives.
In a chat with mid-day on Saturday, Frost, fondly called Mr Badminton, expressed his views on what Saina Nehwal needs to do to prolong her career, how the World Tour Finals (WTF) win can do a world of good for PV Sindhu, BWF's insisting on top players figuring in 12 Super Series events and what keeps his friendship with legendary Prakash Padukone going.
Excerpts:
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What does Saina Nehwal, 28, need to do to prolong her career?
I think she has made a very strong comeback after her operation [knee]. The key in her game is the physical aspect - being physically strong equals strong performance.
PV Sindhu proved her critics wrong when she won the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China last year (after a series of losses in finals). What does she need to do to keep the winning momentum going?
She [PV Sindhu] should gain confidence from winning the World Tour Finals and then be able to win more of her tight matches.
India have three players in the Top 20, but besides K Srikanth, none of them are winning at big events. What differentiates one who can win titles and those who are in the Top 20 or 30?
You must be a complete package. An all-round game alone, defensive game alone, aggressive game alone, is not enough.
Many star shuttlers have slammed BWF's rule of participating in 12 Super Series. Your comment?
Not many players slammed the rule... a few influential players did - mainly those who are at the end of their careers. Personally, I think it's the right way forward for our game. If you study the world rankings, you will see players normally play anything between 16 to 19 tournaments and only the best 10 results count. With the Olympic qualification coming in, you will see players figuring in even more tournaments.
Why is China not a dominant force in the sport anymore?
China is definitely a dominant force in international badminton. However, for the time being, Japan is looking really strong. They [China] are close and things can change in a matter of months.
You are still great friends with Prakash after all these years...
Prakash and I developed immense mutual respect over the five years he stayed in Denmark. He is a great, genuine person with an awesome sense of humour [when you get to know him].
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