New Delhi, Aug 19: Her Beijing Olympic quarterfinal loss has not dampened her spirit. Instead, promising shuttler Saina Nehwal says she has now set her eyes on nothing less than gold in the 2012 London Games.
"I am a bit disappointed that I missed the semifinal berth by a whisker but I am more experienced now. I have lost many such matches so the defeat won't really haunt me," Saina said.
"It was my first Olympics and I never even dreamt that I will come this far. Reaching quarterfinals was most overwhelming. I know I am playing well and I have learnt how to sustain and maintain myself by seeing the international players in the Beijing Olympics village.
"I hope I will be able to get gold in the next Olympics, which is my main aim now," said the Hyderabadi player, who is the first Indian to reach the quaterfinals in Olympics.
Saina, who was invited by Sports Minister MS Gill on her return from Olympics, did not offer any excuse for running out of steam in the crucial match and admitted that it was just her mistake.
"I can't blame coaching or anything for that matter. I was hasty during the match. If I had played like I played in pre-quarterfinals I would have definitely reached the semis. It was my mistake," she said.
"I was confident after my pre-quarterfinal and I badly wanted to win the next match. But it didn't work well that day. I didn't keep patience," she added.
The 18-year-old player, who upset World number five Wang Chen in the Olympic pre-quarters, said she was never under pressure to win a medal and was satisfied with her performance on her Olympic debut.
"I am happy to be up here. I've put in a lot of hard work to reach this far. There was no medal pressure. I just thought of giving my best. I wasn't tired but my hands were paining badly. My strokes were not well. I committed mistakes," Saina said.
Asked when would she start training for the London Games, Saina, who is world ranked 15, said she would rather concentrate on competitions.
"I played Olympic quarterfinal after just one month of training. So I don't think I need to get on to my training from right now. One or two months of training before the 2012 London Olympics would be enough. The main thing is that we get scared at crucial moments.
"What is more important is that I play more and more international events because you have to learn to play different players. My next events are Asian circuit and 2010 Commonwealth Games. There are major events in Japan and China," she said.
"I am here because of my love for the game. I want to take badminton very high so that it reaches near cricket," she added.
On her experience of the Olympic village, which was a confluence of the greatest of talents, Saina said all the stadiums were excellent but she enjoyed meeting the national players more than international ones.
"I was more thrilled to meet national players than the international ones. Leander Paes and all the boxers were very nice and friendly.
"But missed not seeing Roger Federer," she added. Her illustrious coach Pullela Gopichand, a former All England Badminton champion who accompanied the player to Gill's office, said it was more important that she reached the quarters than that she lost the match.
"It is important to remember her level 3 win and not the loss after that. She made quarterfinal appearance on debut. She may try hard to forget that loss but people keep reminding her about that which will make it difficult for her to forget it," Gopichand said.
He said Saina's performance was not beyond his expectation.
"She has 10 more years and with same level and more experience she can really excel. Missing the medal does not take anything away from her. Her fighting spirit is one positive thing."
Bureau Report