Champion says improved fitness and fighting spirit behind success

GOLDCOAST:SAINA Nehwal on Sunday credited her success to improved fitness – she lost 5kg in the last few months – and her ability to bounce back from a shin injury.

Saina has been struggling to bag titles in recent months after a slump in ranking following her injury at the Rio Olympics. On Sunday, she put all that behind by claiming her second gold here and third overall in the Commonwealth Games as she defeated PV Sindhu in the women’s singles final.

After rejoining Pullela Gopichand she has embarked upon a new fitness regimen and that is paying dividends. She played in the team and individual competitions and won tough matches.

“I had a lot of shin and ankle injuries and Christopher Pedram, my physio with whom I started after the India Open, gave me very good rehab program which is helping my leg strength. Gopi sir (chief national coach) is managing my programme differently. They have decided to work on my agility and leg strength and therefore I was able to play 10-12 days here without major problems,” Saina said.

“I was not in a good shape, the rallies were going long, she (Sindhu) was picking up all the shots . I am happy that I could pull off the bigger rallies.”

Asked whether she has proved her critics wrong, Saina said: “In India if I lose, people start with, ‘Oh Saina has lost, Saina is getting old, she should retire’. I think there will be 100 things written about me but for her (Sindhu) it is still ok because she is still coming up,” she said.