Badminton in India will change with this, Saina says

London: From now on, Project Saina against China will take a new dimension. After being a thorn in the flesh for Chinese domination in badminton, India’s first-ever Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal knows what it will take to raise her game a few notches and make things even more difficult for the sports superpower. . “It will always be Saina versus China for me,” Nehwal told media after she was awarded the bronze medal in the women’s singles at a packed Wembley Arena here on Saturday. . “In more recent times, it has always been this way. There has been no one really challenging the Chinese in badminton. And suddenly they realised there is Saina and I know, I can feel it, Chinese players get scared of me on court,” she said. . “That’s a good thing to happen as I know I am confident I can win against any of them. In recent times I have defeated five or six of the Chinese and with every win there is a lot of confidence,” she added. . After losing the first game 18-21 and trailing 0-1 in the second, Nehwal had her opponent, world No 2 Xin Wang, retiring after landing heavily on her left leg — injuring her knee in the bargain towards the end of the first game. “But through the game I saw she was trying to fight for time to ease a bit. She was asking for water break and asking for the court to be mopped. I could see it coming. She was clearly uncomfortable in the way I was holding out to her despite trailing her most of the time,” Nehwal recounted. . “I am happy I am the one who is doing this [ending the Chinese dominance]. In my match against Yihan Wang [world No 1 in the semi-finals] I should have played more rallies, but I ended up playing to her game. I know I am close enough now. All I need to do is continue without any rest,” Nehwal added. . “I am so close and I can see the change happening. Now I have to remain fit to play against the Chinese. I have to be ready and physically keen to take the game into their court. I have to be prepared for the long rallies and matches,” Nehwal insisted. . Off the court, the Indian sweetheart was relishing the welcome she is bound to get once she returns home. “Of course I will give myself a few days off to take in the celebrations. I am a bit disappointed and sad I could not contest for the gold, but ultimately an Olympic medal is a medal and any colour will do,” she smiled. . “Badminton will change in India with this,” she predicted. “There are a lot of youngsters in the boys’ section as well. I want more girls to come, just like it happens in China and Korea and then India too will be a force to reckon with.” .