I have always been a fighter: Saina
PTI, Jan 18, 2023, 10:01 AM IST
Credit: AP/PTI photo
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Tuesday vowed to keep fighting as she believes she has the game to match the best in the business.
The former world No. 1, who has had a tough last few years mainly due to a knee injury, notched up a fighting 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 win over world No. 24 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark in her opening match.
“I have always been a fighter, I like to challenge,” said the 32-year-old from Hyderabad, who will take on Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China next.
“See, my mind sometimes stops working after losing so many matches. You are losing and losing but then today I was not thinking about match points. This was giving me tension the last few matches because I was not pulling off matches.
“Confidence was lacking today but I am happy I played without any knee issues. The last few months, it was gradual improvement. I worked on my stamina, overall hitting game and everything went well today,” said Saina.
Saina, whose best result in 2022 was a quarter-final finish at the Singapore Open, said it was important to win a first-round match to get the self-belief back.
“I was getting tough players in first round. I had to pull out such matches so that I can get confidence and play against the best players. At the moment, I can be good against the top players,” she added.
“She (Mia) has been playing well against top players. So, I think, with coverage, speed and shots I can match the top players.
“I have improved in my movement, and that made a lot of difference. I have been improving my knee, my body. The better my knees are, the better are my lunges.” Asked about what has been toughest thing to come to terms with in the last few years, Saina said, “Nothing, I mean, although, people will speak about you not performing and it is natural. If I think about people then I have to stop playing badminton. I was just thinking about myself.
“I wanted to find a solution. The issue was small, it was not something I couldn’t fight out. I just thought it was not such a big injury that I couldn’t find a solution to. If I can then good, if I can’t, there is always the option of stopping badminton.” Saina said she will quit the sport if her body fails to cope with the rigours.
“Players like to play, when the body says ‘no’ then you have to stop. There are some players who feel they have achieved enough, they stop but otherwise you always feel like doing well and when I feel I will also stop,” she said.
Asked if there is anything left to achieve, Saina replied, “Isn’t winning good? It is also nice.” “See, I have no motivation or feeling that I can be a coach. I can see that in Guru (RMV Gurusaidutt), (Parupalli) Kashyap and (HS) Prannoy in future. They all have that coaching ability, but I don’t even have that. So, I thought, let me play some more years.”
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
Ranji Trophy: Shreyas Iyer’s majestic 233 puts Mumbai in complete command against Odisha
Wright was ideal India coach, he gave players free-hand unlike Chappell, Kumble: Sandeep Patil
Chennai Grand Masters: Arjun holds Aronian to draw; Vaishali earns first points
Ben Stokes missing from IPL’s list of 1,574 players ahead of mega auction
Anil Kumble hopes to see young faces in India’s T20I series in South Africa
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
Felling of trees: What is being done to restore Delhi Ridge? SC asks DDA
Kinnigoli: Truck carrying red stone collides with Auto-Rickshaw; driver injured
UP govt to install 150,000 toilets for Maha Kumbh, set up paying guest facilities
Kavoor Police arrest two notorious cattle thieves
Udupi: Unidentified body found near Bailkere’s Vidhyodaya School
Thanks for visiting Udayavani
You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.