Saina Nehwal Learning From a Loss

So close, yet so far. You'd imagine her loss to Spain's Carolina Marin in the final of the All England Championships on Sunday, would've left Saina Nehwal gutted. But India's favourite shuttler is being brave about the loss. (Saina Looks to Take Positives From All England Experience)

"It was an amazing tournament for me. Of course I am feeling bad about it. But I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it," Saina told NDTV from Bengaluru.(Saina Admits Losing Focus and Getting Nervous)

After a couple of quiet days at home in Hyderabad, Saina is back at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, where she will resume training on Thursday with her coach Vimal Kumar. World Champion Marin, who had lost all her previous three losses against Saina, beat her 21-16, 14-21, 7-21. This was infact Marin's first Super Series title.(Saina Loses in Final)

After winning her opening game comprehensively, Saina was leading 11-9 in the second. After that, till the end of the match, the 3rd seed managed to win just 10 points.(Highlights)

"I know what mistakes I made, but at that point during the match, they just happened. Things were not in my control. There will things that I had trained for. But on court, I just couldn't apply them. There was a fear and nervousness that crept in," Saina said.

Vimal Kumar, who has been working with the Olympic bronze medallist since July last year, says Saina froze. "Shouting out instructions to a player is usually not something I do. And even on Sunday, I was largely avoiding it. I was telling her to be more composed. But I think her brain had just switched off. She wasn't reacting to anything at all," Kumar said speaking to NDTV from Bengaluru.

Before leaving for Birmingham, he made Saina train with tall players, specifically so that she could take on the Chinese. And that effort paid off, with Saina beating her nemesis, former World No. 1 Yihan Wang in straight games in the quarter final. Her overall game has improved, and the spunk is back no doubt, but Saina needs to focus on the mental aspect of her game at this point, according to Kumar.

"It is an issue she needs to address for sure," he said.

His ward though dismisses the option altogether.

"I don't need a mental trainer. I am strong. If I wasn't strong mentally, I would not have been able to overcome the tough year I had before this. In my opinion, players who stop performing after winning one title need mental conditioning. Not me," she said.

It's not a loss she is regretful about, she says.

Saina's next assignment is the Indian Open later this month, another title that has always eluded her. Hopefully she would've identified and worked on the shortcomings in her game by then.