After faltering at the final hurdle against Carolina Marin in the 2015 World Championships, where the Indian shuttler won silver, she believes the Spaniard can be defeated. Saina and Marin could once again be involved in the finals of the upcoming Japan Super Series, which starts on 8 September.
Saina starts her campaign with the opening match against Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungpan, while Marin faces Japanese Yui Hashimoto. With Saina and Marin drawn on top and bottom half of the draw respectively, their only chance for a sixth encounter can be the Japan Super Series title-decider.
Saina feels Marin being a left hander has played it to her advantage, but can be beaten.
"Carolina is a tough opponent, but can be beaten. I beat her thrice before the All England tournament and lost twice to her. She is left-handed player and these are bestowed with better wrist work, she is one like that," PTI quoted Saina as saying.
Despite possessing a 3-2 record over Marin, Saina seems to succumb to pressure when it comes to big finals as it was witnessed in the World Championships last month and All England Open earlier in the year.
Saina feels over enthusiasm cost her two finals against Marin.
"I tried my best to tackle her but over enthusiasm played over me and I lost the last two battles to her," Saina said.
With an array of top stars in the competition, such as Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian, Wang Yihan amongst others, the competition is expected to be top notch.
Saina might be eying revenge against the world champion, but she needs to concentrate on her initial matches, where she could run into fellow countrywoman in the second round PV Sindu as well.
If things go according to plan, Saina could face Indonesia's Ratchanok Intanon and Wang Yihan in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively as well. Saina does want to think about the finals, but wants to concentrate game by game.
"Let us see, I will take each opponent game by game. It is difficult to predict in the beginning," said Saina, who despite losing the World Championship final, regained the world number one status.
