New Delhi: Veteran Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal believes she could have done better, perhaps excelling more in tennis instead of badminton.
Nehwal is the first Indian shuttler to bag the medal for India to win an Olympic medal. She won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Games in women's singles. She was also the first Indian female to attain the number-one ranking in the sport.
"Sometimes I feel that it would have been good if my parents had put me in tennis. There was more money and I had more strength I think. I could have done better in tennis than badminton," the Hisar-born Saina said during her 'Her StoryMy Story' talk at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.
The 34-year-old, who has inspired many to take up badminton, didn't have anyone to follow and consider ideal when she picked the racquet at the age of 8.
"When I started, I didn't have any role models to look up to. No one to look up to and say 'I want to be world number one or be an Olympic medallist,' I hadn't seen anyone do that in badminton before me," Saina said.
Besides the London Olympics bronze, Nehwal also won a bronze and a silver at the World Championships and multiple Commonwealth Games gold, including two in the women's singles. She urged the youngsters present to explore a career in sports.
"I always tell children to concentrate on games. China wins 60-70 medals, We only get 3-4. There are so many doctors and engineers, their names don't come in newspapers," she said.
"I especially want girls to come forward and start getting fit and into sports. Now we are there for the children, there are world number one, Olympic champions and so many medallists to look up to," she added.
Reflecting on her career, she said her hard work compensated for the lack of talent. "I loved hard work, I was not the most talented person, I needed to practice a lot. If a talented player does something 100 times I have to do it 1000 times. But I like hard work. My coaches like my never give up attitude," she concluded.
On Wednesday, Saina played badminton with President Droupadi Murmu at the badminton court of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
