FRENCH OPEN 2015 R16 – Revenge day for Saina

Just a week ago, Saina Nehwal was left struggling against Minatsu Mitani, overpowered by her Japanese opponent. Still, on a different stage but not on the same soil, the World number two changed her fate and showed a whole new character in this new play at the French Open Superseries.

By Tarek Hafi, Badzine Correspondent live in Paris.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Twice in a row Saina Nehwal was left with nothing but a sad handshake, but on the day she saw the World number one spot slip away from her, the Indian showed the will and bravery this long stint atop the rankings has allowed her to have.

It was a revival of the 2012 women’s singles final that turned out differently today, as the Indian superstar came out very fit and displayed her lethal attacking game, helping Saina Nehwal to bring her inner self to counter the dangerous Minatsu Mitani, one of the few who has beaten her on several occasions.

“It was shortly different.  Today, I was moving really well and had taken good care of my right leg, since last Thursday’s match I had couple of days to take care of it.  That was the problem since the World Championships. I had an inflammation on my hip joint and it became an issue for a couple of weeks,” explained Saina Nehwal.

It is not the first time Nehwal has difficulties coming out a winner against Minatsu Mitani, one of the best retrievers on the world circuit: “Sometimes I get angry with myself, asking myself why am I losing to the same player, and I can only keep on moving.  All the Japanese players have the same kind of play, you must move better than them to win, I was struggling a bit with that and this week it seems to be much better,” added the top seed.

About the prestigious status she held for two months, Saina remains very humble and proud of what she built to reach the crème de la crème: “It is definitely a dream come true, mostly for Indians, since we never had a consistent player on the international stage. I managed to do that.  From the moment I started playing, I thankfully won many tournaments and broke many records so it is for me a dream come true. I feel I’m blessed and it’s a result of all my hard work and the people around me who believed in me and told me I could do it and that is the best part of it,” concluded Nehwal.

Saina is now scheduled to meet the former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon, who is still trying to find her way back to the top of the world.

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