India's badminton star Saina Nehwal credits coach Pullela Gopichand for fine-tuning her tournament schedule so that the World No 2 can prioritise better.

Saina Nehwal's World No 1 quest begins

India's badminton star Saina Nehwal credits coach Pullela Gopichand for fine-tuning her tournament schedule so that the World No 2 can prioritise better.

"Gopi Sir has made my tournament schedules much better now and we are focussing on winning the big events.
I am therefore getting more time to prepare for big events. I made the mistake of playing far more tournaments that were required last year. This year, I amu00a0 more relaxed and focussed. So the World Championships (this month in Paris) will see me at my best," said Saina last week.

Saina will soon get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest honour for an Indian sportsperson.

Work towards her World Championship dream starts today. "The tough sessions will start now. I have been working on my strength and stamina and the next few weeks are going to be crucial. Mornings are spent with court work while agility drills are done in the evenings. This is the way we worked before the last three events that I won and I saw real improvement in my game," she said.

Apart from her skills, one key reason for Saina's success is her attitude. "I do not worry too much. I tend to forget the losses, maybe understand why it happened and work out a strategy so that I cover the problems which caused the loss.

"On court, I just think about what strokes I have to play; what tactics I must employ and what answers I must have against my opponent. I just go out to do my job to the best of my ability. I think that the job on hand makes me forget all about pressure and other negative thoughts," she said.

The Chinese, who are the biggest threat to her World Championship ambitions had better watch out.