Day 3
Fortunately the sleep is getting better, everyone seems to be rising later every day, which as an athlete, helps to plan the rest of the day when you’re on a normal schedule.
Saina had a quiet morning concentrating on good nutrition, rest and relaxation. The day before the tournament starts it is important that she is really fresh both mentally and physically, so being able to rest and relax is paramount. We did a light cardio and full body session in the gym, followed by some passive recovery before the evening session.
The Indian team had the arena courts booked from 9pm, which gave everyone a decent amount of time to prepare. The downside being that the games start as early as 9am which means less than 12 hours of recovery between tonight and tournament play. Not ideal. As it turns out Saina is off at around 10.30am tomorrow (third on court), so really not great timing, but this is the world of professional sport. Regardless, Saina and the rest of the team had a good concise session, before racing through a quick recovery routine, a small high protein meal, and getting to sleep.
Huge match to tomorrow to kick things off – World number one Tai Tzu Ying from Taiwan. Let’s hope all the hard work clicks and we get the result the country is looking for!
