I took advantage of Belaetrix`s slow movements: Saina

Satisfied to have crossed the first-round hurdle comfortably, Saina Nehwal said she took advantage of her opponent Belaetrix Manuputi`s slow movements in the India Open Super Series.

New Delhi: Satisfied to have crossed the first-round hurdle comfortably, Saina Nehwal on Wednesday said she took advantage of her opponent Belaetrix Manuputi`s slow movements in the India Open Super Series here.

Saina said while Manuputi had good strokes but the slow court coverage gave her an upper hand. "She is a very talented player and has good strokes. She could be really tricky at times but has good court coverage also. But she was very slow on the court so that gave me enough time to get ready to play the cross court shots," she explained. "In the second game, she tried to give me a fight. But she got tried by the end of it," Saina added. London Olympic bronze medallist said she relied on her smashes to defeat the Indonesian. "My smashes were good," said Saina after the match. Asked about her second round match against Yui Hashimoto, who is not expected to challenge the Indian much, Saina said, "At this level, none of the matches are one-sided." The Hyderabad-based shuttler, who had missed a few competitions due to a knee injury before the India Open, said she was feeling good. "Knee injuries are not easy to play with, so I tried to take as much rest as possible. I just started practicing three weeks before the India Open. I am feeling good now." On the withdrawal of a number of top players from the tournament, Saina preferred to play it down. "Last year, a number of them participated. The schedule gets really hectic and it is not possible for the players to take part in all the tournaments," she said. Meanwhile, P V Sindhu who also won her first round match today, said she was not yet thinking about a possible clash against Saina in the quarterfinals. "My next round is against Sun Yu of China and if I manage to win that I will face Saina in the next. So I really don`t want to think about that match now. Let me clear the next hurdle and then will think about it," Sindhu insisted. PTI