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Saina Nehwal: I Started Off Well, But Failed To Handle The Pressure

Saina Nehwal: I Started Off Well, But Failed To Handle The Pressure
India's Saina Nehwal waves to the crowd after being defeated by Spain's Carolina Marin (not pictured) in their All England Open Badminton Championships women's singles final match in Birmingham, central England, on March 8, 2015. AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
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India's Saina Nehwal waves to the crowd after being defeated by Spain's Carolina Marin (not pictured) in their All England Open Badminton Championships women's singles final match in Birmingham, central England, on March 8, 2015. AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

HYDERABAD — Badminton ace Saina Nehwal said she couldn't handle the pressure properly which led to her defeat in the All England Badminton Championship final.

World No. 3 Nehwal lost to World No. 6 Carolina Marin 21-16, 14-21, 7-21 in the final. After making a fantastic start and wresting the first game, Nehwal faced a remarkable resurgence from the Spaniard, who won both the games.

"May be at some point in time I couldn't handle the pressure properly and it just went away from my hand. The first game was quite good. I started off very well. But I think she was also in a good form and she gave me a very tough fight. Finally, it is a game and it obviously is going to be challenging," Nehwal said.

Nehwal, who has at least 16 international titles in her kitty, was satisfied with her run at the tournament and hoped for better results in the future.

"I am number three in the world. Hopefully I will get number two next week. So, there is a lot of improvement and I am taking a lot of positive out of it. I hope that I continue this and get some good result in the future," she added.

Nehwal squandered 6-1 lead in the second set before losing 21-16, 14-21,7-21 to the Spanish opponent, which ultimately ended her hopes of becoming the first Indian women to win the prestigious All-England Championship.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.