PTI

New Delhi, Jul 5: Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's stupendous performance in the Asian circuit last month saw her move up the rungs and break into the top-20 in the women's singles ranking.

The National Champion, who would be representing India in the Beijing Olympics, jumped to the 18th spot in the latest rankings released by the International Badminton Federation on Thursday.

"I am very happy with my performance. In the beginning of the year I was not so happy, I was not doing well, I wanted to do well, I trained hard so I am quite satisfied. However, I want to raise my game and break into top 10 now," Saina told PTI.

Eighteen-year-old Saina was the best among the Indian shuttlers who participated in the Asian circuit. The Hyderabad girl stunned higher ranked shuttlers, becoming the first Indian to reach the semi-finals in the Singapore Open and later reached the quarterfinals in the Thailand open.

Buoyant after her performance in the Asian Circuit, Saina now hopes to put up a good show in the Beijing Olympics.

"I am playing well now and hope to get good results in Beijing. I am training here in Hyderabad for the moment. I have to improve my defense and am working on it," she says.

"These tournaments have given me a lot of confidence, lets see how the draw pans out, I hope to do well in Olympics," she added.

Among the men, Anup Sridhar was placed 31, while Chetan Anand and Arvind Bhatt were at 41 and 42 respectively.