“Definitely, the Australian Super Series title meant a lot to me as it was one win which I thought would have provided the big answer to my critics who had almost written me off after a series of dismal performances in the recent past,” says Saina Nehwal in an exclusive chat with ‘The Hindu’ .
The champion shuttler from Hyderabad, fresh from her Australian Super Series women’s singles title, revealed that “it was a painful phase in the last two years not to win a Super Series title despite training so hard. Even my coach Gopi Sir and fellow players were wondering what is going wrong. Against this backdrop, I told myself that this was the event which I was going to win. I badly needed this since my last Super Series title was in Denmark in 2012,” the 24-year-old explained.
“Yes, my confidence level was on a new high after the impressive performance in the recent Uber Cup. What is the key I believe is the kind of fighting spirit I picked up from the Uber Cup showing which I hopefully will carry on for long,” she pointed out.
New weapon “There is a new weapon in my strokes which I don’t want to reveal right now. It played a big role in my Australian Super Series win and I believe that it will help me win many more titles,” says a visibly relaxed Saina. “Speed is still my area of concern.”
“There is no break as such for any top sportsperson in any discipline. Already I am focused on Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games which are some of the big events lined up and I started training already for them,” says the 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist.
There was something to cheer for the Hyderabadi as her World ranking too has gone up by one place today – from No. 8 to No. 7.
“I am really happy with this. May not mean much when you make a critical analysis of any body’s game but stats which push your motivational level a bit higher,” Saina remarked.
