Olympic quarter-final loss made me tougher: Saina

NEW DELHI - Saina Nehwal, who Thursday became the first Indian woman to win a badminton singles gold at the Commonwealth Games, considers the final against Malaysian Mew Choo Wong the toughest of her career.

Saina, the world No.3, said that the loss in the Olympic quarterfinals two years ago when she went down from a winning position, has made her a tougher player.

“Don’t remind me of that match. I still feel bad about it. I could not sleep for some days after that match thinking how I wasted the opportunity to win an Olympic medal. It gave me nightmares. But it has made me tough. Thanks to that match, I became a better player and I was more focussed after that. It taught me a lot,” said Saina.

Saina, who beat Mew 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 in the final, said: “It was the toughest match in my career so far. I have never saved a matchpoint and gone on to win the match. I kept on telling myself that I can pull this off and Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand) gave me the confidence that I should focus on getting one point.”

“She is a tough player. She was retrieving everything. It was a tough match. I am happy to win this gold.”

Asked whether there was any pressure since she was playing in front of the home crowd, Saina said: “I was tense at the start. And it happens to other players also when they play in front of the home crowd. I do not feel any pressure till I reach the final.”

“The crowd has been fantastic. They kept on cheering me for the entire tournament. I wanted to give something back to them. So I threw my racquet and towel. A small gesture from my side to appreciate their support.”

Saina said she was happy that two gold medals in badminton on the last day of the competition helped India stay ahead of England in the medal race at the second spot. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa won the gold medal in the women’s doubles.

“I am happy that badminton played its part in taking India to second place after Australia. We also had the hockey match today and we were talking yesterday whether we will be able to finish above England,” she said.

“It is heartening to see that the women players are doing so good in badminton. Jwala and Ashiwni did a fantastic job and then I thought that I should win mine.”

“We could have won one more silver. (Parupalli) Kashyap lost a close semifinal in the singles. But still we can take heart from our performance.”

Saina said the competition at the Asian Games will be tough, but she will giver her best.

“There are four weeks and I need to prepare well, train hard for the Asian Games.”

Saina’s opponent Mew praised the Indian.

“I lost to her before also after winning the first game. She is mentally tough, She is a fighter and I respect her as an opponent.”