Saina can break Chinese stranglehold: Peter Gade

Hyderabad: World number three Peter Gade considers Indian ace Saina Nehwal as one of the most talented

shuttlers around and believes table tennis needs players like her to break the Chinese stranglehold. "Saina has a good game. She is immensely talented, may be better than some of the Chinese shuttlers and my advice to her would be to just stay away from any injury and keep up the good work," he said. "We need more and more young players like Saina to come up so that we can break the Chinese stranglehold," he added. Talking about men`s event in the ongoing World Championship, Gade considers Lin Dan of China as his toughest opponent but reckons he can beat him on his day. "Dan is the toughest opponent. Both Lee Chong Wei and he are the best players at the moment but I feel I can beat Dan on my given day. I have defeated Lee in Korea Open and so there is no reason why I cannot beat Dan," he said. Gade also said although he didn`t mind having the world championship annually, it should have been a biennial even considering the tight schedule. "It is a tough schedule and I feel the BWF (Badminton World Federation) could have considered doing it biennially. But it is still important, it is still the most important medal after the Olympics for any player," Gade said. Asked if there is any security concern after England pulled out of the tournament because of the terror threat, Gade said, "Risk can be anywhere in the world and it is a shame that England had to go back home. Honestly speaking, newspaper reports did made some players worried but I am confident with the way India has ensured our safety." Gade gave a glimpse of his form today as he took less than half an hour to beat Valeriy Atrashchenkov of Ukraine 21-11 21-16. "I had a good match. There was drift in the air but its okay. I am happy with the conditions and lighting arrangement but I had didn`t have the best feeling about the back court. I hope next time it would be fine," said Gade, who has 16 Grand Prix titles under his belt. Bureau Report