Anyone who would have looked into Saina Nehwal's eyes moments after her Guangzhou Asian Games quarter-final loss (8-21, 21-8, 19-21) to Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin could never have predicted that she would win a Super Series title less than a month later
Anyone who would have looked into Saina Nehwal's eyes moments after her Guangzhou Asian Games quarter-final loss (8-21, 21-8, 19-21) to Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin could never have predicted that she would win a Super Series title less than a month later. Saina left the Tianhe Badminton Complex in Guangzhou in tears as she boarded the Games' shuttle bus back to the Athletes Village a little before midnight after losing to Yin and finishing out of the medals.
In fact, seeing her state, an eager bunch of Indian TV journalists waiting for a byte outside the badminton hall, preferred not to approach the World No 3. "Let her be... we'll speak to her tomorrow," one of them said to another.
Moments earlier the 20-year-old Hyderabadi had told MiD DAY that firstly the 50-minute delayed start due to a stretched men's doubles match on the same court, and then some gamesmanship tactics on the part of Yin, who took a little too much time in between points to wipe off her sweat and sometimes seek a shuttle change from the umpire, were the reasons for her defeat.
Evidently then, the World No 3 was mentally affected after the shocking loss. But to stage such a comeback, after having her back to the Great China wall, and win the Hong Kong Series, shows that Saina's mind has outgrown her age. The ace shuttler has made the journey from tears to cheers in an incredibly short span of time.
Surely now, the World No 1 ranking cannot be far away.
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