Sports India

Saina Nehwal will attempt to add another golden chapter to her fledgling career when she begins her campaign as the second seed in women’s singles event of Asian Junior Badminton Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

Saina’s spectacular win at the Philippines Open last month elevated her to a new high in the badminton world and the giant-killer from Hyderabad possesses the grit to become the first Indian ever to win the crown of Asian Junior champion.

The 16-year-old sounded upbeat about her chances in the prestigious championship beginning in the Malaysian capital on Monday.

“I just want to win this title. I know I can do it if I play to my potential. But winning the crown will not be easy as the top seed is a Korean girl (Jang Soo Young) and also above me in the rankings. It will be a challenge for me,” a confident Saina said before leaving for Malaysia along with the rest of the 12-member Indian team.

Saina reached the pre-quarterfinals of the event last time but having blossomed at the international stage since and with a Grand Prix win under her belt, she has a realistic chance of bagging the singles title this time.

The main contender for Saina, whose world rankings soared to 42 after her historic win at Manila, will be Jang Soo Young of Korea, placed three notches above her, while third seed Xing Aiying, world number 44 from Singapore, could also pose a challenge to the Indian starlet.

“It would be a good exposure for me. There are several players in the other teams who are young and performing well at the top level. They are quite fast and I would meet them at the senior level as well.

“Everybody is doing well in the team and we are expecting a good result in the team championship also,” said Saina, who has got a bye in the first round of singles.

After the euphoria of winning Philippines Open, came the dampner as she failed to make much impact in the next three tournaments of the Asian Circuit but Saina is determined to return to her winning ways.

“It was a dream come true (victory at Philippines Open). I really worked hard and gave my hundred per cent in every game but I never believed that I could win it. I took it match by match but after beating world no. 4 (Xu Huwaien) I realised that I have a chance.”

“It was the first time that I had won a big title so I got tense in the rest of the tournaments. I made lots of mistakes. After coming back I started training from that day and took note of my errors,” she said.

The Pullela Gopichand protege seems to revel in beating higher-ranked players and has already scored some big upsets in her career.

“I am not scared by them (higher-ranked players). I always play me best against them. You should have belief in yourself. I do not feel any pressure because the pressure is on them. Even when I was 9-10, I used to beat players in the 16-17 age category.”

Saina’s penchant for toppling big names has made them watch out for this new Indian girl.

“They know that Saina is playing well and now they are careful. They see my game and note it down and work on their strategy. So I need to keep on working hard,” she said.

And how does it feel to be suddenly in the media glare?

“Everybody was talking about Sania (Mirza), now they have something else to talk about – Saina,” was her chirpy reply.

But on a serious note, she said, “it’s a bit distracting (media attention) but it is nice. My family is very happy with what I have done and I hope I would be able to stand up to everyone’s expectations.”