Sindhu happy with career-best ranking
Hyderabad Hotshots icon player Saina Nehwal on Thursday admitted that she had been “under pressure” during her much-hyped women’s singles clash against world championship bronze medallist P. V. Sindhu.
Saina, the world no. 4, said she and Sindhu had been playing against each other for long at the Gopichand Academy and there was nothing new to it.
“Actually the media has hyped up our match so much. Media had written me off. Otherwise we play each other every day at the academy. But since this match was so talked about, I felt a bit of pressure and it became a little tight in the beginning,” said the London Olympics bronze medallist after winning 21-19 21-8 for the Hotshots.
“I just concentrated on playing my natural game and give my best. I played aggressively. Initially Sindhu played very well. But you have to read your opponent’s game. My focus was to be relaxed and play well,” she said.
Sindhu admitted that she committed a few negatives which cost her the first game at least.
On breaking into the top-10 of world rankings, released on Thursday, she said: “I thought by the end of this year, I would break into top 10 but I have already done it, so now I haven’t yet set a new goal.”
Mumbai take lead
In the second rubber of the day, Mumbai Masters went one-up after world no. 41 Russian Vladimir Ivanov upset Parupalli Kashyap, the icon player of Bengaluru’s Banga Beats 21-18, 21-18.
World no. 14 Kashyap was undone by his unforced errors, after leading initially in the first game, and in the second too.
Ivanov took the court against Kashyap after world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei failed to joined the team in time because of a cramp sustained during his World Championships final. Lee is expected to arrive on Friday night.
Post new comment