Saina, the lone Indian hope

The past few days have pushed me over the cliffinto nostalgia while reading the build-up stories on the World badminton championship commencing August 10 in Hyderabad.

While I do not entertain any realistic hopes of any of our male players even making it to the final, much less win the title, my money is on Saina Nehwal to create a stir and possibly perform a feat no Indian (not even Prakash Padukone) has.

Much of course would depend on how well Saina has recovered from a bout of chicken pox that caused her to miss a few precious days of training.

But if she is fully fit, then I expect her to do extremely well while hoping that she would be able to cope with the huge expectations that will put her under pressure.

In Image: Indian policemen attend a briefing at the Gachibowli Stadium, the venue of the World Badminton Championships, in Hyderabad on August 9, 2009. England have pulled out of the world badminton championships starting here August 10 over concerns about the squad featuring Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson being targeted by a terrorist act. The decision follows media reports of a specific Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist threat against the Championships, a statement issued on August 10 by Badminton England, declared.

Text: Anand Philar

Images: AFP

Video | England pull out of badminton worlds amid attack fears