India’s Saina Nehwal won women’s singles bronze in badminton Saturday when her opponent Wang Xin of China broke down with a knee injury after taking the opening game.

“I think this is only thing a player wants. I wanted it and I have got it. The next target is the next Olympics. I will work hard for the upcoming tournaments,” Saina told reporters.

Nehwal, ranked fifth in the world, becomes only the second Indian woman to win a medal in an individual Olympic sport.

Nehwal, ranked fifth in the world, becomes only the second Indian woman to win a medal in an individual Olympic sport. Getty Images

When asked if she had become emotional after the victory, she said,”We all had tears in our eyes. The joy I have experienced after the medal has still not sunk in and I might react once it sinks in.”

Saina said she had a lot of people to thank and said she would like to specifically thank her parents, coach Pullela Gopichand and everyone who had contributed to her victory.

She also thanked the media for their support in the Olympics. “Media is lovely of course. They have for the first time elevated a badminton player to this level,” she said.

Wang, a former World No.1 and current No.2, hurt her knee when she landed heavily on her right knee following a jump smash. She had it taped up and went back on court to smash a winner and take the first game, but collapsed on the second point of the second game, and promptly conceded.

The score was 21-18, 1-0. The gold medal match, later Saturday, is an all-China affair between World No.1 Wang Yihan and No.4 Li Xuerui.

Earlier in the day, Russia won its first ever badminton medal when Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova crushed Canada’s Alex Bruce and Li Michele to take bronze in the women’s doubles.

The competition was weakened considerably with the disqualification of four pairs, including China’s No.1 seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, for match fixing.

Courtesy: Firstpost