Having exited in the quarterfinals in each of her previous three appearances, world No. 3 has best chance to win a medal at the BWF World Championships starting today.
This is Saina Nehwal’s golden chance to improve her best performance at the BWF World Championships and go on to win a medal. The Olympic bronze medallist and world No. 3 leads a strong Indian contingent at the Championships starting in Guangzhou, China, on Monday.
India till date have won only two medals at this event. Prakash Padukone won the men’s singles bronze in 1983 in Copenhagen while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, now separated and playing with different partners, won bronze in women’s doubles in London in 2011.
Saina, in each of her three previous World Championships, bowed out to Chinese opponents. However, in this edition, she will not face a Chinese until the semifinals where she is likely to bump into top seed and Olympic champion Li Xuerui.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist has got a relatively easy draw.
After a first-round bye, she opens her campaign against the winner of Olga Golovanova of Russia and Alesia Zaitsava of Belarus. Saina’s first real test could come against eighth-seeded Japanese Minatsu Mitani in the quarterfinals.
Saina has a 3-1 win record against Mitani. However, the last time the two met in the French Open final in October last year, the Japanese got the better of the Indian.
“I don’t want to think too far ahead and will like to take things one at a time. I have been working hard for the last few weeks and I hope to be at my best in China,” Saina said before leaving for the Championships.
PV Sindhu, 18 and who won her maiden Grand Prix Gold title not long ago, is also keen to make a mark in the Worlds. The 10th seed also also has a first round bye but faces a tough opponent in the defending champion Yihan Wang of China in the third round, should both win their earlier matches. Sindhu lost the only match she played against Yihan in Sudirman Cup this year but she managed to take a game off the Chinese.
“When we met in the Sudirman Cup, I took the first game and ran very close in the second. That gave me a lot of confidence and the hope of beating her. I think it is possible to beat her now since I know how she plays,” Sindhu said.
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