Dubai , December 10: Saina Nehwal’s dream of finishing the year on a bright note looks bleak . Saina, who became the first Indian woman to claim the world number one spot earlier in the year, looks certain for early exit from the BWF Super Series Finals in Dubai. Nehwal’s 21-14, 21-6 loss to Nozomi Okuhara, the lively World number nine from Japan, was ominous enough, but her explanation for the one-sidedness of the loss made it seem as if her season is all but over.
Nehwal cited lack of proper training led to her debacle . According to Saina , ever since injuring an achilles tendon three weeks ago, she has not been able to train properly . She blamed her movement on court for the defeat against Okuhara who, as she said, “gets everything back”.
Worse still Nehwal is in a group containing the favourite, Carolina Marin of Spain, and the titleholder Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.
Both of them look in decent shape, and both of them she would probably have to beat to be able to qualify for the semi-finals.
“I’m not putting myself under any pressure to win these,” she said.
“It’s going to be very, very, very tough.”
Earlier, Marin had to come from behind in the first game before starting impressively with a 21-16, 21-9 win over Tai Tzu Ying, and looks quite capable of adding the tour’s flagship title to the world, All-England and four other Super Series titles she has won this year.