I am uncomfortable against top stars: Saina

MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal wasn't even born when Ami Ghia became the first Indian woman shuttler to be ranked as high as No. 7 in the world in 1983. A quarter century later, Saina, all of 18 and now 10th in the world, has sent out a loud warning that cracking the top-five is next on her agenda. But the national champion knows it's a rough climb here on.
"I'm uncomfortable playing all the shuttlers who are higher ranked than me," Saina told TOI a day after the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) list was released.In fact, if one were to go by statistics, the Indian has beaten three shuttlers in the current top nine, but only one (China's No. 4 Zhu Lin) in the top five.
While Saina's win over world champ Lin in the China Masters in September proved that the Hyderabadi teen has the game to beat the best, Saina says she needs to work on her mobility to overpower the Chinese consistently. "They are very fast on the court. I need to increase my speed to match up to them," explained.
While the Chinese are the ones to beat, Saina says she's also uncomfortable playing the likes of World No. 1 Zhou Mi and 7th-ranked Pi Hongyan of France.
"Zhou has a few shots which I just fail to anticipate, especially her flicks. I just cannot understand when she'll hit at the net or push the shuttle behind," explained Saina.
If the Indian is candid enough to admit that there's a lot of work to do before she can consistently beat the best, Saina knows it's only a matter of time.
"I need to improve no doubt, but at the moment some of them are winning close matches only on their experience. In the end, when it's a matter of 2-3 points, their experience of having been in a similar situation before bails them out. I'm confident that next year I'll be able to pull off a few wins over the top ones," she said.