Saina Nehwal takes positives from All England performance

HYDERABAD: A dream All England title might have slipped through her fingers but Saina Nehwal today insisted on taking positives out of the prestigious tournament, saying her consistency and improvement in overall game will help her to do well in the season ahead.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina's quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the All England championship ended in agony after she lost to Spain's Carolina Marin 21-16 14-21 7-21 in the summit clash yesterday in Birmingham.

"The first game was quite good. I started off very well. But I think she was also in good form and she gave me a tough time after that. Finally it is a game so obviously it would be challenging," Saina told reporters after returning home.

"I am happy that I got some good results last year. Winning the China Open and then reaching the semi-finals of the Super Series Finals. So there is a lot of consistency.

"I'm world no. 3 and hopefully will be world no. 2 next week. There is a lot of improvement. So I am taking a lot of positives out of this tournament. Hopefully I will do well in future," said the girl from Hyderabad, who had earned a career best ranking of World No. 2 in December 2010.