We have to move ahead by forgetting the defeat quickly, says national coach Pullela Gopichand
After the surprising loss of Saina Nehwal at the round-of-16 stage in her home event of India Open Super Series, India’s national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said that we have to forget that defeat quickly and move ahead while remaining positive.
The World Number 5 Saina, who was seeded at number 3 in the tournament, could not live up to expectations of her home fans and crashed out at the pre-quarter-final stage.
The 22-year-old Indian lost to World Number 12 Bae Youn Joo of Korea without taking any game as she was completely unable to dominate the pace of rallies.
Nevertheless, Gopichand said that she could not play well on that day as it was an off day for her.
The coach also does not want to think about her defeat as he wants her to think ahead about the upcoming major tournament.
Gopichand also said that she was not physically fit because she was having cough and cold which made her tired in the game.
He said, "I don't want to read too much into Saina's match. Actually there is no particular reason to pin-point why she lost. I believe it was just another off day for her. She was also going through cough and cold in the last few days. She was just tired,
not mentally but physically."
The coach said that we should remain positive in our thinking and move ahead without dwelling in the past.
He said, "We don't have the luxury to brood on our defeats. We have to quickly forget the defeat, remain positive and move ahead."
In the pre-quarter-final match, Saina played competitive badminton in the opening set against her Korean opponent and lost the fight with a tight margin of 19-21.
Saina was completely off colour in the court as she could not put up good show in front of her huge home crowd.
In the second game, she could not produce better form in the second game as her Korean opponent was incredible in her shot selection and execution. The Indian lost the second game with a 10-21 score on the board.
The Indian shuttler lost this round-of-16 contest to Youn Joo in two games by a 19-21 and 10-21 Margin on the score board.
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