Heartbroken once again, Saina why did you lose?

Arthur Robert Ashe, a three-time Grand Slam winner, once said: "You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.”

Surely, Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal could not achieve that real joy today because she knows she never could really reach her limits or touch the high standards that she set for herself in the last two year.

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” But for Saina, who has been training specifically for the World Championship for the last one and a half months, preparation was never a factor.

Infact, she was in the best shape to clinch the title this year considering the fact that she invested so much time to practice and achieve perfection in her strokes but then why did she falter once again at the quarters of the World Champion is a question that none but she can answer better.

Plagued by a lingering ligament injury for more than half of the year, Saina had done well to recover completely and get rid off that scrap bandage which she wore this year in most of the tournaments and regain her full fitness before the tournament.

There were concerns with her foot movement in the court but even for that arrangements were made as she was under the guidance of Tom Jones beside her mentor Pullela Gopichand but all these preparations meant nothing in the end as she succumbed to a straight-game defeat against world number three Xin Wang.

No loopholes in preparation, no dearth of motivation and there is no paucity of talent either, then why Saina, who is revered by one and all in the country couldn't achieve her dreams which she had seen many times since her kindergarden days. Was it this very pressure of a billion hearts that wants her to win every time she takes the court or it is the lack of believe?

For a shuttler, who has entertained the nation and the world in the last two years, beaten the chinese umpteen times and is considered one of the best in the world by not only her country men but also coaches and players across the world, it has to be a sad day. As a fan of the sport and as a fan of her game, I am disappointed.