Not the end of road: Saina

An irrepressible Saina Nehwal said she will learn from her mistakes and come back stronger after her straight games loss to unseeded Chinese Xuerui Li in the Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals here Saturday.

Known for her mental toughness, that catapulted her to the top-10 in the world, Saina was not her usual aggressive self in her 17-21, 11-21 defeat that came in front of a vociferous home crowd that rooted wildly for the home favorite.

The Indian, who has been fearless in taking on the Chinese, showed the promise needed to halt the march of the dragon country in the tournament. But it was not to be. Such is the dominance of China in the sport that despite their top players missing the tournament, it has turned out to be an all-Chinese affair in both men’s and women’s singles, with a super Lin Dan leading their charge.

“It was one of those days when nothing went right for me. It’s part of the game, sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. It was just not my day,” Saina shrugged.

“I was not focused. I was playing well in the first game but I do not know what happened in the second. I was just pushing myself for points but nothing worked out for me.”

“She (Xuerui) was attacking and (coach) Gopi sir told me to slow down the game. He came up with strategies but I was just not able to implement them.”

Asked whether she was affected by the pressure of playing at home, Saina said: “I don’t think it was pressure. I have been in such situations before. I took the court to win the match.”

The fighter in Saina said she is not going to mull about the loss.

“There are a lot of tournaments to come and I know my time will come. I will have to improve on my weaknesses. Just have patience,” Saina gave the message to her growing fan club.