The lone Indian challenger in badminton at the Athens Olympics in August, Aparna Popat believes a podium finish at the sporting extravaganza is not beyond her grabs.
"Much depends on the draw of 32. Couple of (winning) matches would put you in line for a medal. It's going to be very tough, no doubt. But depends on the draw," the national women's champion said.
The 26-year-old Bangalorean, who has commenced a three-month training for Olympics, said players could falter under pressure from their countries.
"If you can mentally balance yourself and hold yourself at the right moment and with adequate preparations before the Olympics, it could turn out well," the World No. 23 said.
Aparna is the only Indian to find a place in the qualifying list for the Olympics. Two other Indians -- Abhinn Shyam Gupta (ranked 44) and Nikhil Kanetkar (48) can qualify only if some men withdrew at the last moment.
But she dismisses suggestions that being the lone Indian, she carries extra burden and is under additional pressure.
"I just like to perform well. Even if there are five others (Indians), there will be pressure on me. I like to do my best and perform well for the country. Pressure will always be there while playing in Olympics".
And for her, the "mental block" against top-class Chinese shuttlers is a thing of the past.
"I have overcome the mental block in the sense that I am not scared to play them anymore. I don't give up and I know I still have a chance and try to fight through. But it will take a while because they are so good. But my performance has been improving..rallies getting better..in that sense, there has been a big improvement," Aparna said.
Aparna said she has changed her training completely catering more to international badminton and is trying to play much faster and build up her strength.
"It has given me positive feedback, and answered a lot of questions that had remained for the past few years....things like playing against the Chinese...I am much more confident about my game. While playing them, I am much more comfortable than before," said Aparna, training under Ganguly Prasad who is well versed with international badminton.
Maintaining her world ranking was not easy for Aparna, who had lost in the first round to Kelly Morgan of Wales at the Sydney Olympics.
"It's extremely difficult as all the top players play in top tournaments and even to get into the main draw is considerably difficult. In a draw of 32, there are a minimum of four qualifiers and in some cases, even eight. With those ranked one to 24 taking part, even if you are 25 or 26, you have to play qualifying rounds which is very, very difficult," she said.
Aparna said since the Sydney Olympics 2000, the women's badminton has become more powerful, faster than ever before.
"A lot more countries are taking part and nations such as The Netherlands and Japan have become extremely strong".
Aparna said she will be concentrating on her weak points in the three months prior to the Olympics.
"I will work on my strength and speed. I generally have a poor appetite. I have to build more strength during training. We Indians lack in that aspect (strength).. because we do no eat beef, pork and things like that".
"I can't directly compete with the Chinese in strength and speed. So, I am building on my techniques, something Prasad is very good at," she said.
"I will be looking a lot at technical changes in foot work and strokes. Let's see...if everything comes together very well, I should be a much better player. I will be working really hard in the next three months."
