****Image Credit: India Today
Saina Nehwal – a multiple winner of several major badminton tournaments over the years – is chasing her dream to win the elusive and prestigious much sought after All-England title this year.
Injury prone Nehwal, 28, won her first world tour title last Sunday (Jan 27) when she bagged the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters.
Nehwal, however, is not glorifying her success at the Istora Senayan because it was "handed" to her when Spain's Carolina Marin retired with a right knee injury after landing awkwardly when going for a shot at 9-3. The Spaniard retired at 10-4 after 10 minutes of play.
Still, a win is a win for any sportsman or sportswoman, no matter how it is achieved.
Nehwal herself has just returned from a shin injury which laid her off from training and competitive badminton in December.
"I am not happy how I got it (Indonesia Open title) but it certainly is a boost to me as I hope to take off from here for this year's All-England," said Nehwal.
Her best in the All-England was finishing runners-up to Marin in 2015.
Injuries have also hampered Nehwal's badminton career.
The 2016 Rio Olympics stand out like a sore thumb when the Indian hope picked up a career threatening knee injury that needed surgery.
The newly-wed Nehwal skipped the season's opener – the Thailand Masters – but played in the Perodua Malaysia Masters and the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters – to gauge herself.
In Kuala Lumpur she reached the semi-finals before bowing out Marin. Nehwal one better to reach the final in Jakarta, more than pleased with the outcome of her overall performance with victories over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, China's He Bingjiao and Indonesia's Dinar Dyah Ayustine.
"This is a very important year to us as it is the year when you try to qualify for the (2020) Tokyo Olympics. I am pleased with my overall performance after playing in the two tournaments."
"Injuries are cruel to sports people.
Of course it is unfortunate to be kayoed by injuries but that is part and parcel of a sports career," who won the women's singles gold medal at last year's Commonwealth Games gold medal in Gold Coast Australia.
She is also the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in badminton and this was at the 2012 London Olympics when she took the bronze medal.
Nehwal has also won the China Open, the Indonesia Open , Denmark Open, Australia Open, Singapore Open and the Hong Kong Open.
