Saina Nehwal Can you break the curse and emerge victorious in India Yonex badminton championship Open to be number 1 in the world?
Besides winning the 2010 Commonwealth Games singles gold at Siri Fort Stadium here, Saina not have much to reflect on their performances in the Capital.
He ranked second in the world, Saina starts as the favorite to claim his first Super Series in the country. Since his split with his mentor P. Gopi Chand last September, Saina has moved from seventh to second in world rankings by winning a couple of titles along the way.
This week could be a milestone in the career of Saina. Seeded to meet world champion Carolina Marin, ultimately, Saina on Sunday will be looking to avenge the first defeat suffered the second-seeded Spanish in the final of the All England earlier this month.
With world No.1 Li Xuerui stay away and lose ranking points earned by reaching the final here last year, Saina is closer to becoming the first non-Chinese from December 2011 until the beginning world ranking list women.
The Danish Tine Baun was the last non-Chinese to occupy the coveted spot.
Judging by the way and given the lack of depth in the field, and Carolina Saina should be in the final. In just two scenarios, Saina is no denying the number one place next week. One, Saina must fall on or before the quarterfinals with Carolina reach the final. Two, Saina fails to reach the final and Carolina wins the title.
If the two girls reach the final, Saina be crowned world No. 1, regardless of the outcome of the title-clash.
Saina, citing “the wrong time” to stay away from the press conference to present the event at noon, was present in another promotional event in the afternoon and said, “I’m not focusing on becoming the world number one . My goal is to win the title. ”
Saina will host only title contender in the absence of PV Sindhu has been out of action for six weeks after a stress fracture in his left foot last month.
Among men, although Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark and K. Srikanth, ranked second and fourth in the world are seeded to face in the final, the Chinese legendary Lin Dan is being seen as the favorite. Since the draw was made before the final ranking list, five times world champion Lin Dan found himself as the third favorite.
Lin Dan, who made a brief appearance visibly reluctant in the official press conference on Monday, said, “I’m playing here for my fans.”
Back from his self-imposed semi-retirement and looking to qualify for the Olympic Games next year looking for its third consecutive gold, Lin Dan has won all titles worthy in the game at least twice.
In 2010, he left the Siri Fort stadium with the first of his three championships of Asia. Last year he was here as part of the campaign unsuccessfully to China in Thomas Cup. After signing with Yonex this January, the ‘Super’ Dan now makes its debut in India Open as the “favorite”.
Lin Dan is seeded to play Jorgensen, All England finalist earlier this month, in the semifinals, where they would be looking to improve their record 6-2 head to head. In fact, at its previous meeting in the China Open last November, Lin Dan refused Danish a hat-trick of wins to win in three games.
