Saina Nehwal's father Harvir Singh today said the pressure of playing in her maiden Badminton World Championships final could have led to the Indian ace's defeat to Spain's Carolina Marin in the title clash of the mega event in Jakarta today.
"I believe it was a psychological factor, she might have lost her concentration thinking she had to win," Harvir told reporters in Hyderabad.
World No.2 Saina settled for the silver medal after going down 16-21 19-21 to her numero uno nemesis, who was also the defending champions.
He added, "It's marvellous (Saina winning the silver). Saina tried her best but Marin is a little stronger. There is still a lot of badminton left in Saina and she will surely come back stronger. She needs to learn more skills and stay fit."
It was the second successive loss in a major final for Saina even though the silver medal she settled for is the best performance by an Indian in the showpiece.
Fellow sportspersons Jwala Gutta and former India cricket captain Anil Kumble congratulated the 25-year-old shuttler.
"Tough luck. First silver ever proud moment for badminton in India!!!" Gutta wrote on his twitter handle.
Kumble said: "Well played. Really proud of you. Good fight! Bad luck today! Lost to a better player on the day!"
Sports Authority of India (SAI) tweeted, "We are proud of you, as we get our first Silver medallist at the World Championship. So proud of you."
This was India's fifth medal at the World Championship after P V Sindhu clinched the bronze twice in 2013 and 2014 and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a bronze in women's doubles at the 2011 edition.
Legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to win a bronze at the 1983 edition.
