Saina Nehwal reveals the reason for her recent poor run

THE WORLD NO. 2 shuttler Saina Nehwal blames the lack of full fitness for her consecutive losses in the past one month. 

The Indian shuttler lost in the quarterfinals of the French Open Super Series against Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Friday. It was the third below-par performance in a row by Saina in recent times. In the previous two tournaments, the Japan Open and Denmark Open, Saina found it difficult to progress beyond the second round. This cost her slip to No. 2 in world rankings as Carolina Marin of Spain is back on top.

Saina admitted that she is not fully fit and that is the reason for her loss.

"I had some pain in my right leg after the World Championships, so it is taking me time to get 100 percent fit. It's an Olympic year so there is no time to take break. I cannot afford to miss any tournament to protect my ranking,"

Saina told TOI.

"I will have to get fully fit first. That is my top priority now. Performance will automatically take care of itself once I manage to attain my peak fitness," she added.

The London Olympic bronze medallist is not concerned about losing the world No. 1 ranking but wants to get back at her best  performance.

"I don't know when I will regain my top ranking. It is not in my hands. Giving performance is in my hands and I will do that," said Saina

She will be taking good rest for a few days to get back at preparing for her next challenge, the China Open Super Series Premier which will be held in Fujjan from November 10 to 15.

"I hope to make the most of these couple of weeks. Hopefully the pain will vanish before I fly to China. I want to be fit and healthy," said the shuttler.