Saina Nehwal isn't done just yet! She still has some fight left in the tank and will keep putting up a fight until her body stops to support her.
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 in 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. In the last few months, it was a gradual improvement. I worked on my stamina, and overall hitting game and everything went well today," said Saina.
Last Few Years
Nehwal, 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 the first round. I had to pull out of 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 (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 and my body. The better my knees are, the better are my lunges," she added.
Asked about what has been the 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 it. If I can then good, if I can't, there is always the option of stopping badminton," added Nehwal.
When Is The Time?
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," she finished off.
In an illustrious career spanning over a decade, Saina Nehwal has been one of the very best, winning over 24 international titles.
(Inputs PTI)
