Saw the dark-side of social media in last few months, can't wait to prove my critics wrong: Saina

OLYMPIC BRONZE medallist Saina Nehwal wants to return to the court as soon as she can. She is slowly recovering from her knee injury and has started training. Because of the injury, she failed to qualify to the knockout stages at the Rio Olympics as she lost in the group stage.

She then underwent a knee surgery in Mumbai and is likely to return in to action in December.

"It's been stressful after the Rio Olympics and being away from action was a bit depressing. I kept thinking of how knees could have acted up even a week after the Olympics but fate had it that it had to occur during the games. So I was very disheartened. But thankfully, my pillars of strength — my parents, coach and doctors helped me get over the psychological stress but it was continuous focus and took a lot of mental strength. Apart from that, my pet Shi-Tzu Chop Suey was real stress buster at times," as told to TOI.

"But, I'm laughing and feeling chilled out today after a very long time listening to the stand-up comedy at this event. And now I'm focussed on my rehabilitation. I've started running and doing a lot of physio work in the last few weeks. Dasara and Diwali are fine but for now, it's a training schedule that last for all seven days in a week for me. It's about getting all my systems back on track and feeling fluid in all my movements. I'm targeting a comeback in a couple of months. I can't wait to get started and prove my critics wrong."

After her Olympics exit, she received a lot of backlashes from fans across social media.

"I love social media as it helps me connect with the fans. I would usually upload pictures with trophies or if I've gone to an event. But the past few months, I saw the dark side to it as well. Receiving a lot of online flak for my show at the Olympics wasn't easy to digest. Some of the stuff was nasty! But I took a very rational approach to it. I don't expect everyone to understand my situation, and I have learnt to ignore it."

"I knew that I was the one who controlled who I was, am and will be. So I need to keep on working. Of course you feel horrible when you lose! It's the worst thing for an athlete! But athletes have tasted the ups and downs, and it's sort of ingrained in our system that we cannot reflect too much on the victories or defeat! We get up and move on to the next challenge. We always think about preparing and practicing for the next tournament."