In an interview with PTI, the Hyderabadi also reveals why she parted ways with the former All England champion and throws light on the Padma controversy.
'Otherwise, how will India become a sporting nation and how will we compete to beat China to win 60 Olympic medals?'
India ace Saina Nehwal was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad to undergo treatment for her knee injury which affected her progress in the badminton event of the Rio Olympics.
Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal played her heart out but eventually ran out of steam as French Hongyan Pi beat her in a gruelling quarterfinal encounter of the Malaysian Super Series in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
It was Saina Nehwal's 13th straight defeat against the World No 1 Taiwanese, whom she has not beaten since 2015.
Lakshya Sen ends runner-up at All England Open, loses men's singles final 15-21 20-22 to Lin Chun-Yi.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal regained the No 1 position in the international rankings after China's Li Xuerui dropped a couple of rungs to third in the latest list, issued on Friday.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, on Wednesday, suffered shocking first-round exits from the Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuching.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal tied the knot with fellow badminton player and long time partner Parupalli Kashyap in Hyderabad on Friday.
H S Prannoy stunned World No 10 Kanta Tsuneyama while ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal also sailed into the second round of the Malaysia Masters, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. World Championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth and the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth, though, bowed out of the men's singles events.
If Saina manages to go past Okuhara, the Indian might run into fourth seed Carolina Marin, who is placed in her half of the draw.
Despite clinching the Macau Open title for the third time, India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu remained static at 12th position in the latest BWF world ranking released on Thursday. Saina Nehwal also held on to her number two position but a poor run of form saw K Srikanth lose a spot and slip to World No. 9.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is set to miss the All England Championships after being stranded in Dubai due to travel disruptions. Other Indian shuttlers face challenges reaching the tournament.
"EC has added Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom to its list of national icons. Till now we had former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Indian cricket captain M S Dhoni as icons. I am hopeful that our new icons will make debut appearances in Gujarat polls. The work is going on with them for promotional messages to be released soon," EC Director General Akshay Raut said.
India will be sending full teams for the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold (May 30-June 4), Indonesia Open Super Series (June 12-18) and Australian Open Super Series (June 20-25).
The quarter-finals bug bit Saina Nehwal yet again at the badminton World Championships.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal tied the knot with fellow badminton player and long time partner Parupalli Kashyap in Hyderabad on Friday.
Saina lost 9-21, 12-21 in the women's singles clash that lasted just 24 minutes
Saina Nehwal's chances of defending her title at the Commonwealth Games looks bleak as she has decided to skip the selection trials for the upcoming multi-sport events.
All eyes will be on Indian ace Saina Nehwal when she returns to the court after an injury lay-off at the All England Championship, hoping to better last year's runner-up finish at the prestigious event which begins with the qualifiers in Birmingham.
Saina Nehwal once again faltered at the semi-final stage as she suffered a straight game defeat at the hands of China's Wang Yihan in the women's singles at the Asia Badminton Championships, in Wuhan, China, on Saturday.
Lakshya Sen's quest for the All England title ended in a narrow defeat to Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi in a thrilling final marked by high-intensity rallies and attacking play.
Popat was taken the distance by B R Meenakshi while Saina Nehwal easily beat Trupti Murgunde in the semi-finals of the Senior National badminton championships.
World No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal presented the racquet with which she won a silver medal at the Badminton World Championships to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an advanced birthday present, on Wednesday.
Lakshya Sen overcame painful blisters and severe cramps to defeat Victor Lai and reach the All England Open final, bringing him closer to ending India's 25-year wait for the title.
The shuttlers led by Saina Nehwal will make their first appearance in the Olympic Games on Thursday along with men golfers as India still waits for its first medal after five days of fruitless labour in this Brazilian city.
Saina Nehwal remained static at second position while Kidambi Srikanth dropped a place to be at ninth spot in the world badminton rankings released on Thursday.
The Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of badminton's last two Olympic qualifying events, was on Friday postponed due to a recent COVID-19 surge in the host country, dealing a severe blow to the Tokyo hopes of Indian stars like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
Former world No. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, moved to the second round after her opponent, Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova, suffered a back injury and retired mid-way while trailing 20-22, 0-1 in an opening round match.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal wants Bajirao Mastani actress Deepika Padukone to portray her in the upcoming biopic on herself.
National champion Saina Nehwal advanced to the semi-finals of the Singapore Open badminton tournament, beating Indonesia's Firdasari Adrianti 21-16, 20-22, 21-16 on Friday.
Tanvi becomes first Indian female in 17 years to secure world junior medal, Hooda misses out
"In the second set, I was on the slower side. I was trying to make rallies happen but the points went very quickly," she added.
The first Indian woman to clinch a silver medal at the World Championship in the 2015 edition at Jakarta, Saina has been struggling ever since, limping out of the Olympics last year with a knee injury.
Saina Nehwal said she has no regrets about 'standing up for her father' in the athletes village accommodation controversy
However, Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to fourth seed Korean Son Wan Ho in the men's singles quarter-finals that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.
The Indian ace will be looking to get the better off the Spaniard in Japan Super Series, starting next week, and avenge her recent defeat at the World Championships.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal registered a 21-18, 21-15 win against PV Sindhu, a two-time winner, in the summit clash.
Olympics-bound Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu easily won their women's singles first round matches in the Badminton Asia Championships, in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday.
