Hyderabadi jugalbandi with different notes

Imagine my shock when I realized that the article actually referred to a rising badminton star whose name just happened to be an anagram of India's most glamorous sportswoman of the past decade.

I am sure that for most of us who habitually read newspapers from the sports section to the front page, Saina Nehwal came on our radars as an anagram of Sania Mirza. Of course, a few friends actually believed that Sania had given up tennis moved to badminton!

Of course, today things have changed for this 22-year-old shuttler who has risen to the No.2 spot in world rankings and is seen as a medal hope at all international tournaments. And the irony that Saina's rise has coincided with Sania's fall is not missed on sports lovers.

The two ladies have a lot more in common than the alphabets in their respective first names. Both belong to Hyderabad and both were had the strong support of their fathers, who provided the platforms to make champions out of their darling daughters.

Both began hitting the news headlines in 2003, though Sania managed to edge Saina out due to the overall popularity of her sport. The tennis ace won her first major title at Wimbledon where she lifted the Girls Doubles title partnering Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. The same year, Saina won her first title at the Czech Junior Open.

However, that is where the similarities ended between the two Hyderabadi atheletes. Sania may have won 8 WTA and 4 ITF titles in an eight-year career, but she failed to make her mark on the Grand Slams, save for the one tile in 2009 when she won the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi.

Saina, on the other hand, consistently moved up the ladder that she began to climb in 2006 with a win at the Philippines Open. As a rank outsider seeded 86th, Saina stunned several top seeds on her way to the title. She picked up the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games and won the Asian Satellite Tournament to cap off a stunning year.

While 2007 proved to be a dull year for Saina, she came back strongly in 2008 winning the Open event at Chinese Tai Pei beating Li Ya Lydia Cheah of Malaysia. She reached the World Super Series semifinals the same year and was voted the Most Promising Player.

She broke into the Top-10 rankings on December 04, 2008 - a club that boasted of as many as six Chinese players.

On 21 June 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title, the most prominent badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. This pretty much put her on par with the legendary Prakash Padukone and her mentor Pullela Gopichand who won the All England title that is considered in the same class as the Super Series.

She also picked up the Indian Open Grand Prix in 2009 though it was only earlier this year in March that Saina managed to move into the Top-5. It came on the back of an inspired showing at the All England Super Series where she had a sensational run till the semi-finals before losing to Tine Rasmussen of Denmark.

The Coach and student capped off 2009 by winning the Dronacharya and Arjuna award thought the government recognition of sporting excellence did not ready us for the big bang that Sania made in the world of badminton during 2010.

Besides the semi-final place at the All England Super Series, Saina claimed a bronze at the Badminton Asia Championships before becoming the first player to claim three major titles starting with the Indian Open.

Within a matter of two weeks, she had also pocked the top honours at the Singapore Open and the Indonesia Open - two victories that suddenly seemed to change the way the sporting world looked at Saina.

Neither is her identity in question anymore nor her talent. For, Saina seems all set to scale further heights what with the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships round the corner.

While comparisons are indeed odious, there is a certain inevitability to the way people refer to Saina and Sania in the same breath. And the question inevitably pops up as to where did Sania slip up and what is the key differentiator between the two girls.

Without going into details, we can safely say that the one aspect where Saina seems to have scored over Sania is in the extra focus on physical fitness. While Sania is known to tire out after long rallies, Saina seems to revel in them.

And Saina managed to focus fitness as a result of having a coach and mentor like Pullela Gopichand to support her efforts. For most of her career Sania Mirza was coached by her father Imran Mirza.

Maybe, Saina's rise to World No.2 has a lesson for Sania Mirza.