Winning at Olympics my next goal: Saina Nehwal

She is young, she is energetic and above all, she is a brilliant badminton player. At just 18 years of age, Saina Nehwal is already being dubbed as the female version of former All England Champion Pullela Gopichand. Having recently broken into the top 20 of the women’s world rankings, Saina is now completely focussed on giving her best shot at winning a medal at the upcoming Beijing Olympics. In an exclusive interview with Zeenews.com’s Biswajit Jha and Vaibhav Arora, Saina reveals her aspirations and goals for the future. Here are the excerpts:How does it feel to break into the top 20 of the world rankings? It’s a great honour, feels great especially considering that I’m still young. It’s really good for my confidence and will help me get recognition in the world badminton circuit. What’s your next goal? Now I’m totally focussed on the Beijing Olympics. Doing well in the Olympics is my top priority. Besides that I want to improve my rankings and break into the top 10. Tell us about your preparation for Beijing? I’m working really hard on several aspects of my game and should be in perfect shape before the Olympics. Can we expect a medal from you? It’s really difficult to predict at this point of time… am waiting for the draws… a number of good players will be competing there… but I can promise you that I will give my everything to win a medal for my country. What would you rate as your best performance so far? Winning the Singapore Super Series has been the best performance of my career so far. According to you where do Indian players stand in the world badminton circuit? A number of promising youngsters are coming up. Though we still don’t have top class facilities, we have proved that Indian players are no push-overs. A lot of badminton players are coming from Hyderabad. What’s the secret? Compared to other parts of the country, we have better facilities in Hyderabad. The Pullela Gopichand Academy is also helping players in a big way. I get to practice there with a lot of boys, which helps a lot. How do you rate Gopichand as a coach? He is a fine coach. Being a former champion player himself, he knows exactly what it takes to become a champion. Are you happy with the facilities in the country? Are there any plans for a foreign training stint? It’s true we don’t get enough good players to practice with and sharpen our skills in the country. But presently I am happy training under Gopichand and there is no plan for a foreign stint in the near future. You believe in power game. Is there anything in your game you are looking to improve upon? I’m working hard on my defence and speed. One needs to have good defence to become a top player. When did you start playing badminton? I started playing badminton when I was nine. Who inspired you to take to badminton? My parents, who were also badminton players, encouraged me a lot during the early days. When did it strike you that you have what it takes to become a top performer in the game? When I started winning nationals, I knew that I had the potential to become an international badminton player.