Rio Olympics: Saina eyes consistency

After fighting her way back to fitness following an Achilles injury sustained at the end of last year, the 26-year-old’s confidence was given a boost ahead of her third Olympics when she won the Australian Open Super Series title last month.

The Indian shuttler said, however, that victory would have little bearing on her chances at the Aug. 5-21 Olympics and she was more concerned about hitting the ground running in Brazil. “It all depends on how you get adjusted to the conditions there, that’s more important,” she told Reuters in an interview in Bengaluru. “If the Australian Open was one week before Olympics, maybe it would have an effect, but the gap has given all players time to prepare. They will all come stronger. “There are a lot of things like time difference that will affect us only after we go there. How well you prepare here is not the main thing, but how you take care of the other aspects there is important.”

Nehwal added that she had surprised herself by her aggressiveness during her second Australian Open win in Sydney and wants to carry that trait into Rio. “I was not playing like that in the last couple of months. My net (play) was good, and I was very attacking in the tournament,” she said. “I want to play at the Olympics the same way I play at the tournament.” 

Nehwal, the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal, topped the women’s singles rankings in April last year but injuries stalled her progress and she currently sits fifth ahead of the Games. The shuttler is targeting greater consistency to counter the threat posed by world number one Carolina Marin, defending Olympic champion Li Xuerui and London silver medallist Wang Yihan of China. “I am at a stage where I have improved a lot, but there is a lot more to go. There are players like Carolina who are faster, Li Xuerui has a good technical game, Nozomi Okuhara is good in rallies,” she added. “I feel I need time to match these players. 

To be at your best you need the seven-eight weeks. Till now it’s pretty good, hopefully in the next four weeks it goes well.” Several athletes, including a number of high-profile golfers, have pulled out of the Games citing health concerns over the Zika virus, but Nehwal said her mind was focused only on one thing. “I am going there as an athlete, there is not a single thing other than badminton that I’m thinking about now,” she added.

Jordan Spieth’s decision to miss golf’s return to the Olympics next month after a 112-year hiatus was the hardest of his life, the world number three said on Tuesday. The 22-year-old American adopted an appropriately respectful tone as he gave his reasons for missing the Rio de Janeiro Games. “This was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” Spieth told a news conference ahead of the 145th British Open, which starts at Royal Troon on Thursday. “This was something I very much struggled with. I bounced back and forth with it and ultimately a decision had to be made yesterday.” The twice major winner’s choice not to travel to Brazil means none of the world’s top four golfers will be competing in Rio after Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy had previously pulled out.

Brazilian customs workers will start an indefinite strike on Thursday over wage increases, their union said on Tuesday, just three weeks ahead of the Olympics when thousands of tourists are expected to flock the South American country. The Sindifisco union of federal tax auditors, who are in charge of customs and other tax monitoring duties, voted on Friday for the strike to pressure the government to honour its promise to raise their wages by 5.5 percent starting in August, union President Claudio Damasceno said in an interview. A crippling political and economic crisis as well as the spread of the mosquitoborne Zika virus have raised questions about Brazil’s ability to successfully host the world’s biggest sporting event for the first time ever in South America. Local authorities expect more than 500,000 foreign tourists to land in the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics, which start on Aug. 5.