Her bronze medal in the London Olympics has sent India into a state of frenzy, but her shocking quarterfinal defeat in her maiden appearance at the mega event in Beijing four years ago, still rankles shuttle queen Saina Nehwal.
The 22-year-old Saina earned India its first Olympic medal in badminton when she clinched the bronze at the Wembley Arena in London last week.
“I am very happy that I won a medal but I can’t forget that match (Beijing). It is very diffficult to forget that because I could have reached the semifinals in my first attempt and I lost it. Losing in Beijing was dishearting, it was an easy match but I made it difficult,” Saina told PTI today.
Saina had lost in the quarterfinal of the Beijing Games despite enjoying an 11-3 lead against Indonesian Maria Kristin Yulianti. But she made up for that when she was adjudged winner after a knee injury forced world number two Xin Wang of China to forfeit her bronze medal play-off match.
“I wanted to win an Olympic medal at the age of nine. I wanted the feeling of podium, the medal and finally when I got the medal round the neck, I was on the podium and everything was going like I wanted. It was extremely emotional. I started thinking about the last 13 years of my hard work and I started crying,” she said.
Asked if she is already thinking about the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Saina said: “Rio is still not in mind, four years is too far off. I am just thinking about the coming tournaments in the next few months. I have to make myself more fitter and stronger.
“It is obviously a dream to play next Olympics. It is not easy to be at the top. I hope that I would be in good shape in the next few years,” she said.
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