Shanghai: Plagued by injuries and inconsistent form, Saina Nehwal has not been able to win any title this season, but the Indian ace shuttler remains confident of a good show in China Open Super Series Premier which begins with the qualifiers here Tuesday.
Since 2008, Saina has won at least one title in the season but this year the 23-year-old Indian has played 35 matches, out of which she won 24 and lost 11 of them. Her indifferent form saw her fail to defend her title at Switzerland, Thailand and Denmark and it reflected on her ranking too as she slipped to number seven late last month.
However, Saina remains confident ahead of the event and said with a bit of luck she can claim her first title soon. "I have been training hard for the last three weeks. There is nothing wrong with my game and I am confident of a good show in China. This is the last Premier event of the year and I want to do well," Saina said.
Saina will now open her campaign against a qualifier in the tournament which she missed out last year. The Hyderabadi had to withdraw from last year's event due to a knee injury. "I could not play last year because of my knee but in the last few days I have practiced work and also lost one or two kgs of weight. I am in good shape. The competition is tough.
Everybody wants to win and a lot of the girls whom I have beaten in the past are doing really well now," Saina said. "It is a difficult game and momentum can change in a moment. I need a little bit of luck and I can win a title again," she added.
Saina will have her task cut out as she will probably face defending champion and top seed Li Xuerei of China if she manages to reach the quarter-finals.
"I have beaten her in the past in Indonesia last year. Lets see how it goes. I don't want to think ahead. I'll take one match at a time," she said.
If the Indian does manage to get past that hurdle, she will probably have to play either fourth seed Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea or fifth seed Juliane Schenk of Germany in the semifinals.
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