Saina happy with momentum, targets medal at Asian Games
THE OLYMPIC MEDALLIST BROUGHT HOME A BRONZE FROM THE BADMINTON ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS
NEW DELHI: With a second Commonwealth Games gold in her kitty, shuttle queen Saina Nehwal feels she has been able to bring out her best and is gunning for more glory at the Asian Games in August-September.
The Olympic medallist also brought home a bronze from the Badminton Asia Championships, where she raised hopes of upstaging Taiwanese world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, the eventual champion, in semi-finals. Although Saina lost in straight sets, her tactics and stamina stood out.
“I am playing well and I want to win medals. Despite the loss in Wuhan where it was a matter of just the last two points, I am feeling good and moving well. It is very important to be positive when you play as the competition is tough, one wrong step and you will be out. You have to be very careful with matches and the amount of pressure you handle,” Saina said on Saturday.
The 28-year-old was felicitated by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and received ~20 lakh for winning the women’s singles gold at Gold Coast.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, both singles runners-up in Australia, got ~10 lakh each while Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty shared ~15 lakh for winning the men’s doubles silver.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy received ~7.5 lakh for their women’s doubles bronze medal.
The Indian contingent was handed ~50 lakh (~5 lakh each for 10 players) for winning the mixed team gold at the CWG. In all, BAI handed out ~1.3 crore, including ~10 lakh to chief coach Pullela Gopichand.
PRANEETH GOES DOWN
AUCKLAND: B Sai Praneeth went down fighting to second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the men’s singles semifinals of New Zealand Open badminton.
The 25-year-old Sai Praneeth was the lone Indian left in fray in the tournament after he entered the semi-finals of the men’s singles event. However, his run came to an end after he succumbed to a 14-21, 21-19, 21-8 loss in a match that lasted over an hour.