Fit-again Saina confident of good show in next month's Worlds

A fit-again Saina Nehwal said she was training hard to be in top shape and expressed confidence of a good performance in next month’s badminton World Championship.

The 23-year-old shuttler was happy to finally have a six-week break and said injuries pegged her back during her last three tournaments in South-East Asia -- Thailand Open, Indonesia Open and Singapore Open. In fact, Saina is yet to win a title this year.

“After a long time, I had a break of six weeks. I was not happy with my fitness. When I got the break, my toe was got fractured. I trained for just one week before going to the three tournaments but I was surprised I managed to play well, reaching the quarterfinals or semifinals. But now I am feeling good and hopefully I will come out well in the World Championships,” Saina told reporters during the launch of Indian Badminton League’s school programme initiative – ‘Shuttle Express’ at the Genesis Global School here on Friday.

“If I am at my best form, I can win. The small injuries sometimes irritate you. Obviously, when you are not at your best, you are a little bit injured, you have to tape your knee and you think whether you can train that much or put 100 per cent. There were doubts in my mind.”

The World No 3 was optimistic about the future of IBL which is scheduled for August 14-31 and hoped the Chinese players would be more open about their participation in it.
“This is the first season. I am sure there will be more players from the second season,” she said.