The marquee Indian Badminton League clash between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in Delhi on Thursday turned out to be an anti-climax. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina whipped teenage sensation and World Badminton Championships bronze medallist PV Sindhu 21-19, 21-8 in a totally one-sided contest.
There was tremendous media hype around this match, and Saina seemed to be the 'outsider'. 'Favourite' Sindhu, however, disappointed.
In a post match chat Saina admitted there was pressure on her but most of it came from the media. She said tongue-in-cheek, "I think the media made me lose the match, even before it started!"
Sindhu lost the first game after taking a 7-3 lead with Saina coming back with a display pof powerful smashes and clever courtplay. Saina however paid tribute to Sindhu saying, "The way Sindhu plays, I'm sure she has a bright future ahead."
Saina is aware that the competition only gets tougher from here and is looking forward to the tournaments ahead.
"IBL is tight schedule wise, and next year will be tighter with Commonwealth Games and Asiad as well. But Indian badminton is on a high, so it's a good thing."
She was also thankful to Taufiq Hidayat who calmed her nerves after Sindhu's initial onslaught had her pegged back on the defensive.
"Middle of the 1st game when I was trailing, Taufiq asked me to calm down. And told me how he's under similar pressure when he's playing in Indonesia."
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