Saina Nehwal finally got her passport renewed after much dilly-dallying by the authorities, clearing her way to participate in the World Super Series Masters Badminton final in Malaysia from December 18.
"I am very happy that I got my passport renewed on time and I am really thankful to Mr R Swaminathan and the Hyderabad passport office for understanding my predicament. I also am thankful to the media for their support," the world number 10 said on Saturday.
"Now the first thing is to get the visa as soon as possible. I would be leaving for Chennai on Monday morning and would apply for the visa straightway," she added.
Saina had qualified for the Yonex Sunrise World super Series Masters finals starting on Thursday after two of the Chinese shuttlers pulled out of the event, making way for the Hyderabadi girl to participate in the prestigious event.
Earlier, the regional passport officer in Hyderabad said Saina would not get her passport renewed before Monday, which had made the ace shuttler's participation in the top-flight tournament doubtful.
"I had applied for the renewal of the passport on December 2 and they assured me to issue it on December 10 but they didn't do that. Yesterday I tried to meet the passport officer but she said she was in a meeting and the office was closed so she can't meet me and I would get the passport on Monday only," Saina said.
However, the timely intervention of Ministry of External Affairs in the matter expedited Saina's case and she got her passport renewed at around 1:30 pm IST on Saturday.
