INDIA'S Saina Nehwal and Denmark's Tine Baun are fighting to stay fit and injury free for the London Olympics, where they will be out to end China's supremacy in women's singles.
But China, who have dominated the event in the last three editions, are the hot favourites once again through world champion Wang Yihan, Wang Xin and Wang Shixian, the top three ranked shuttlers in the world.
"Reputations will take a backseat and you have to be at your best in every tournament to move up. The Olympic Games is long way off and I do not want to put pressure on myself by thinking about it yet," said World No 4 Saina, quarter-finalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
"At the moment, I just want to do well in tournaments to improve my confidence and condition. Everyone wants to win an Olympic title but one needs to stay fit and injury free for the challenge."
Saina, who turns 22 on March 17, however, needs to work extra hard to win an Olympic medal as her record against China players is poor.
The Commonwealth Games champion suffered her fifth straight defeat to Wang Yihan in the semi-finals of the ongoing Maybank Malaysia Open yesterday. Her head-to-head record against Wang Xin and Wang Shixian stands at 2-4 and 1-1 respectively.
"China have a big pool of players and they can rotate them in tournaments. But I need to play the full schedule to maintain my ranking. Like the Chinese, I have also won priority tournaments and am proud of my achievements," said the former world junior champion.
As for Tine, the Dane was touted as one of the favourites at the 2008 Beijing Games but injuries prevented her from doing well and she bowed out in the last-16. The World No 6 is eager to end China's dominance in her last appearance at the Olympics.
"Saina and I have the potential to win the Olympics but we have to be tactical and in good shape and play at top level to beat the Chinese," she said.
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