By Saina Nehwal

2010 has been a dream year for me. I played five of the twelve super series this year and did well in three of them. Plus the Padma Shri and the Khel Ratna award. What more can a player ask for !

Yes, I will be happy to be world number 1. But my main aim is to win an Olympic gold and also the All-England championship. Plus win all the Super Series as well !!

The Hong Kong win was special because I was feeling a bit low after the loss at the Asian Games and therefore it was more tough for me to get into the groove. In comparision, my confidence in Singapore and Indonesia was already high after the win at Chennai.

I was conscious of the fact that in Hong Kong, I was up against two players I had lost to in recent months. I will admit I felt more happy defeating Pui Yin Pup because she had defeated me in the Asian Games just a few days before. I was more tense during the match. My net game was very good on that day and that match gave me the confidence for the semis and the finals. Yes, there is a feeling of having taken revenge but one should not feel too happy because you never know what will happen next !

I will also cherish my performance at Hong Kong because I played almost perfect badminton there. My smashes and strokeplay were much improved. And yes, after defeating both Pup and then Shixian Wang in the finals, I wondered how I lost to them in Guangzhou and Paris.

Though the Chinese are still the dominant force in world badminton, there is no fear factor as far as I am concerned. I have better results against them, especially in the finals. The only problem is that I am only one while there are 6-7 Chinese in the top bracket.

Next year, the focus will be on All-England, the world championship and the different Super Series. All the players will be on court as well because it is the Olympics qualification year so the going will be tough. And 2012 of course, will be the big year because of the Olympics.