Elated after lifting her second title of the year, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday said that patience and a newly-acquired calm demeanour made all the difference in her Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold triumph in Bangkok.
The 22-year-old world number five, who had defended the Swiss Open in March, rallied to defeat Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon 19-21 21-15 21-10 to lift her maiden Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title today.
"Overall, I am very happy with my performance because I was more relaxed and calm during the matches and it worked for me," Saina told PTI from Bangkok.
"There are times when I am under pressure and get irritated but in this tournament even when I was lagging, I was very patient. I didn't commit easy mistakes, I played long rallies and had some good smashes and also my net play was good," she added.
Saina did not face any top-ranked Chinese in the event but she said it still was a tough field to battle against.
"I am very happy to win this title. It was not easy but I played well in a lot of tough matches but it was a good win to have before the Indonesia Super Series," she said referring to next week's event.
{{/usCountry}}"I am very happy to win this title. It was not easy but I played well in a lot of tough matches but it was a good win to have before the Indonesia Super Series," she said referring to next week's event.
{{/usCountry}}"It was a very good match practice and a right way to start the preparation for Olympics. It is tough to compete at the highest level. After Indonesia, (national coach Pullela Gopichand) Gopi sir will draw up my training schedule for the Olympics and this win is for him and my family and supporters who have been there for me."