New Delhi: India's chief coach Pullela Gopichand on Thursday said he is happy that his wards, including Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, have been able to pull off matches from difficult situations in the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.
"I'm happy that both Saina and Sindhu and also Jwala and Ashwini have the ability to get deep and pull it off, which is something I'm happy about. Yesterday, also Guru's match, it went deep and I am happy about it," Gopichand told reporters.
Saina notched up a hard-fought victory against world no four Ratchanok Inthanon on Wednesday. She was also lagging in the first game on Thursday against Lindaweni Fanetri but pulled off the match in the end.
Sindhu too had to play out of her skin to prevail 21-16, 10-21, 25-23 over Bellaetrix Manuputty.
Asked about Sindhu's match, Gopichand said she was under pressure.
"If you ask Sindhu to play safe, then she will be very defensive. That is the nature of her game. She will have to be aggressive with her height and she will have to keep her streak going," he said.
"After every five to seven strokes, she was getting ones to hit, so she was desperate to finish off the game. There was pressure on her and her opponent played a very clever game.
"Sindhu was stretched till the end, there was nothing happnening in the rally, Manupatty played tactically a very good game. Another day, Sindhu would run though the match but this are high pressure matches and it is easy to say it but on court you tend to freeze."
Asked about Jwala and Ashwini, who beat world No 9 pair of Polii Greysia and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari 21-18, 21-18 to seal the tie for India, Goichand said he was confident about their chances.
"I was more confident that Jwala and Ashwini will win, not in straight games but their opponent lift a lot and these shuttles are not conducive for that. They are very defensive. It is difficult to defend when you are 0-2 down."
Asked about Japan, Gopichand said: "Japan have same kind of game like Indonesia. They strive on defence, Mitani will also strives on her defence. I think the match against Takahashi will be the key."
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