JOIN USAfter a high at the Commonwealth Games where she won the gold medal, Saina suffered a quarterfinal loss at the Asian Games and the Indian said she would look to get back to her winning ways at the season-ending Hong Kong Open.
“It was disappointing to lose in the Asian Games but I know I did my best. Now I am looking forward to the Hong Kong Open. Hopefully I can end the season with a win there and take the confidence to the next year,” Saina said.
The world number two Indian is likely to meet her Asian Games nemesis Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong in the quarterfinal and the 20-year-old is not ready to take anything lightly.
“Pui Yin is a good player and she has improved a lot in her strokes and speed but it would be a different game and I hope to beat her this time,” said Saina.
In the men’s singles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap will also look to continue his good run but the Indian has been handed out a difficult draw once again.
The world number 30 will take on 38th-ranked Yu Hsing Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, who had beaten Arvind Bhat in the team event of the Asian Games, in the first round and is likely to meet fifth seed Jin Chen of China in the second round.
Arvind will have Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand as his first round opponent and if he crosses the opening hurdle, he will run into the formidable third seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the second round.