In just over two weeks time, Saina Nehwal will begin her pursuit to win a second Olympic medal at the 31st edition of the Summer Games to be staged by Rio de Janerio. The 26-year-old has endured a mixed first half of 2016, having bowed out at the semifinal stage of 6 competitions, consecutively before finally winning at the Australian Open Superseries in June, her second title is Sydney in three years.
Now as she gears up for her third Olympics, the shuttler is happy with her preparations and felt that the triumph in Sydney was ‘perfect’ before the Games’.
“Any Olympics is a huge challenge and you see so many ups and downs between editions. By God’s grace, I believe that the build-up for me has been good in terms of training and the recent Australian Open title was just perfect before this Games.
“Every effort is being made to come back with a medal. I will not be found wanting in Rio and hope the results will be fruitful,” Saina said in an interview to The Hindu.
Saina will be carrying a lot of expectations on her shoulders to return home with a medal and while admitting the fact, adds that once she steps foot on the court, she shuts herself off all the noise and focusses on the job at hand.
“It will be there and I hear about it in the media. But once you are on the court, you have to shut yourself away from all these issues and focus on the match,” she said.
Rio will be Saina’s third Olympic Games and she feels a great sense of pride in representing India at the Games and adds that she hasn’t made major changes to her game.
“To represent India for a third straight time is definitely a matter of pride. I don’t think I have had to make major adjustments in my game except improving in some areas which every player has to do before a major event. I am looking at a better approach to drops, dribbling and half-smashes,” she said.
When asked who she thought would be her toughest opponent, Saina said there was no one player who would be a threat and concluded by wishing the rest of the contingent the best.
“You cannot pick a player or two as your major challengers will be there. In terms of competition, it will be like a Super Series event, where the big guns line up, but the tag of Olympics makes a huge difference.
“I sincerely convey my best wishes not just to my fellow shuttlers but to the entire Indian Olympic contingent,” she concluded.
