Saina Nehwal: “Getting back to the No. 1 spot is not a big challenge anymore”

Saina, who is currently ranked No.2 in the world, has had a string of poor results as she faced early exits from the Japan, Denmark and France Super Series. Coming back from a rest period of a couple of weeks, Saina said, "It's getting better and hopefully it will reduce further. There is less pain in the pelvic area now. I was suffering from pain in the abdomen for almost one-and-half months but that is over. It was painful reaching the net due to all this and it reflected in my results. Taking rest has helped me a lot and I am trying to get my fitness up,"in an interview to Times of India.

Saina insisted that maintaining the No.1 rank is tougher than achieving it, and having done it before, getting back to the top will not be a big challenge for her. "It's not easy to reach the No. 1 rank, let alone maintain it. You have to keep winning all the big events to have a chance. When I had not reached there, I feared if I would be able to do it or not. I am glad to have achieved it and for me getting back to the No. 1 spot is not a big challenge anymore as I have done it before,” she added.

Saina's coach Vimal Kumar earlier claimed that the 25-year-old's recent fitness concern is a result of her pushing too hard for the No.1 ranking, in order to gain a favorable draw at the Rio Olympics. 

However, the Olympic medalist, has refuted that statement saying, "I have never thought about the rankings. It's not about the Olympics. It's more about maintaining form. If I am in good form, I don't need to think about the draw (at Rio). And that is what I intend to do in the last three events of the year. We will start preparations for Rio only July next year, which is still far away."