Lucknow, Dec 21: For Olympian Saina Nehwal, the victory in the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Badminton has a special significance. She said that she will rank this win “higher among many more victories” she has attained.
Talking to The Indian Express, Saina said with this win my wait for a Grand Prix title in India is over. “Winning a Grand Prix at home is something different altogether. While playing today, I had this at the back of my mind that I was playing in front of home crowd so the expectations would be very high from me. Plus my coaches and my father, who has taken about a week’s off, were watching me play, so this match meant a lot to me.”
“I have played against Aditi many times so I knew her game but she played very well today. I had won the Indonesia Open earlier this year and it is good that the yeThe world number eight said that she intended to take a break from tournaments so as to concentrate fully on the Commonwealth Games 2010 and the Asian Games. “I want to do my country proud there by winning golds.
As I want to focus more on them so I will not be appearing in quite a few tournaments next year. I will be missing Super Series tournaments also. My intention is to give 100 per cent in all the championships I appear in and so I need to work hard for them accordingly.”
She said her preparations for the Commonwealth Games were moving in the right direction. “The Malaysians are doing well and there are a couple of Singapore shuttlers who play very well too. So we should be ready to face them.”
Commenting on the Indian talent in the game, Saina said, “As far Indians are concerned, there is a lot of improvement in the doubles section with Jwala Gutta and V Diju shining in the international arena. Though Akshay Dewalkar and Jishu Sanya lost in the men’s doubles finals today but they played. I feel that Aditi Mutatkar has the potential to improve. In the junior circuit, PV Sindhu and Sikki Reddy hold a lot of promise.”
–Agencies