New Delhi: Saina Nehwal admitted she was under pressure before taking the field in the first round of the Indian Open at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, where she had won the Commonwealth Games singles gold two years ago.
But the World No.5 Saina, seeded third, won her first round match easily beating Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong 21-14, 21-6 in 29 minutes to move into the pre-quarters of the women's singles.
"After the Asian Games, I beat her again here. I think I have beaten her third or fourth time. She played well and I was defending most of the time. But I was confident with my smashes and I used them sparingly. There was pressure before the match but I played well today and settled down very quickly," said Saina, who next faces World No.11 South Korean Youn Joo Bae.
"My draw is tough as I play the South Korean in the next match. The court was on the faster side and I had to play with control," she said.
Saina also said the schedule was running late and her match was postponed.
"Schedule was running late but I was informed well before about my match getting postponed," she said.
Jwala Gutta, who lost the mixed doubles first round with V Diju, hit back at the organisers for not informing them on time as their match was preponed.
"I didn't play well. I was not feeling good on the court. But it all actually started on a bad note. There were two matches before us, they preponed our match. They asked me to get ready in 15-20 minutes without informing us. That just put me off," an animated Jwala said.
Jwala, however, said that as a professional, the incident shouldn't have bothered her.
"I went to the court on a bad note. I started off very negatively. It shouldn't have affected me. You come here prepared for the match and such stupid things happen. This happens in small tournaments but this is a Super Series."
"They asked me to hurry up, how can u hurry and warm-up, you have to take your time. But I'm not blaming only that, Diju did play well but I played horribly," she said.
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