At the start of 2018, even Sameer Verma would have not put money on him leading the chart of Indian title winners in the calendar year and being the only men’s singles player to qualify for the year-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou.

Though a consistent performer over the last few years, the 24-year-old had been plagued with injuries that either kept him out of a considerable part of the year or pulled him down especially when he was beginning to get consistent in terms of performances and results.

It was similar story last year after Verma began the year on a high, winning the Syed Modi International in January and reaching the quarter-finals of the India Open to build on the impressive performance in the 2016 Bitburger Open (semi-finals) and the Hong Kong Superseries (final).

But an untimely shoulder injury put paid to his hopes of building on his then career-high ranking of 18 as he needed a couple of months to recover and be back on the circuit again.

It was then that Verma probably changed his approach. Known as an extremely hard-working shuttler, the 24-year-old had been guilty of injuring himself by pushing himself too far and ended up suffering back and shoulder injuries.

Knowing his limits

“I think now he knows how much he can push and what are his limits,” said coach Siyadutt Ullah, who has seen Verma since he moved his base from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh to the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad as a junior shuttler.

The changed approach ensured that Verma remained injury-free throughout the year and allowed himself to build on the foundation he had laid in the last few years.

Everything came together on Sunday in Lucknow when the 24-year-old recovered from a tricky period of play for the fourth successive day to not just retain the title but also qualify for the World Tour Finals.

Speaking to reporters after the final, Verma insisted that the World Tour Finals was the last thing on his mind for the major part of the year and all he wanted was to play well through the year without any other injury.

A title triumph at the Swiss Open in February, during which he also defeated Kento Momota – who would go on to become world No 1 and win the world championships – in the quarter-finals set the ball rolling for Verma. He then reached the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters in France the following month.

Verma didn’t really set tournaments above Super 300 level on fire and made the quarter-finals of just the Denmark Open Super 750, where he lost to Kidambi Srikanth. But he maintained his consistency in the Super 300s, winning two and reaching quarter-finals of two others to reap the benefits of the new qualifying system of the World Tour Finals.

Even before the start of the Syed Modi International, it was clear that Verma had to win the tournament to qualify for the year-ending event. To his credit, he showed the maturity to handle the pressure situations well.

Unlike a Srikanth or HS Prannoy, Verma never boasted of having a winner in his game that can bail him out of difficult situations. Instead he always relied on his strong defence and steady game-plan to soak in the pressure and turn the tables on the opponent.

Minor tactical changes

In Lucknow, one could see the minor tactical changes he could execute when the going started to get tough. If he showed the patience to not go for the kill once China’s Zhou Jungpeng started to attack him more in the first game of the second-round encounter, Verma also had a trick up his sleeves at the business end of the second game where he could push his opponent to the backhand corner and then wait at the net to either tap or just keep the shuttle to close to win a point.

In the semi-final and final, Verma had to fight back after losing the opening games and he relied on his superior defensive skills and ability to read the opposition to turn the tables.

Watch: Sameer Verma’s strong defence helps him win Syed Modi Open, qualify for World Tour Finals

Especially in the finals, Verma had to figure out a way to stop Lu Guangzu from rushing on to the net, a tactic the Chinese had successfully applied in the opening game. He then curbed his own stroke-making to just keep pushing the shuttle to the baseline at every opportunity and make the sixth seed – whom he had lost to at the Australian Open earlier this year – work longer for every point.

“Getting to play a full year without injury has helped Sameer figure out his game well and that helped him a lot in Lucknow,” said Amrish Shinde, who was in the coach’s chair for most of his matches in Lucknow, including the final.

“Earlier also he used to spend a lot of time watching videos of opponents and discussing tactics with coaches. But now he is able to change tactics midway and execute them well,” Shinde added.

So what does Verma expect from himself going into the World Tour Finals?

“Nothing really,” he told reporters. “I am happy that I managed to win the title and qualified for Guangzhou. Now, my only target is to play well there and stay fit [for next year].”