Editorial StaffThe badminton star, Saina Nehwal, has brushed off escalating pressure on whether she will turn out to be the first Indian woman ever for clinching the world number one ranking, in New Delhi at the Indian Open. Nehwal is currently at number two after reaching the influential All England Championship final this month, is expected for snatching the spot of number one if she gets to win the tournament in front of the home crowd. However 25 years old Nehwal, who has already a string of firsts attached to her name insists that numbers do not count for much. After cruising past a qualifier in the opening round on Wednesday she told AFP that whether her ranking is 1, 2 or 10, this does not matter. What matters for her is that she should stay fit plus whom so ever she plays against; she should give her 100 percent. Nehwal communicated that she was still feeling a little pain from the slight shoulder injury deteriorated during the All England Championship where, in the final, she has lost to Carolina Marin of Spain.
The first Indian woman ever to win the Super Series title as well as the very first for winning the Olympic medal at badminton; Nehwal, might meet Marin again, seeded second in the $275,000 Super Series event. Nehwal said that she is recovering from the injury, a bit of pain, of course is there but each sports person has to face some fitness issues or other. She also said that for the previous six seven months, she has been playing really well. She did not, actually, expect to play so very well. In the bracket of males, multiple world and champion Lin Dan of China has also faced no issues in the opening round match against unseeded Tzu Wei Wang of Taiwan. Both the finals i.e. for the men and for the women are slated for Sunday.
