PTI

New Delhi, Jul 29: They may not be in the reckoning for medals in the Olympics but as the Indian shuttlers Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal gear up for the August 8-24 Beijing extravaganza, they would be looking to spring up a few surprises and make some heads turn.

India does not have a spectacular history in the Olympics to take inspiration from, but the Indian duo would like to change all that and write a new script especially after their recent performance in various international platforms.

Both Sridhar and Saina had an impressive run in the last one year and on the basis of their ranking in the Badminton World Federation's list, the two made the cut for the Olympics. While Sridhar became the top-ranked shuttler in India at 25, Saina broke into the world top-20 at 15.

Sridhar's impressive performance at the World Championships last year, where he had defeated 2005 world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat was a career high point for him and he soon became the first to book his ticket for Beijing.

But his ankle injury pushed him back, denting his performance in the recent tournaments. No exception that he decided to pull out of the Tata Open fearing it might aggravate his injury in the run up to the Olympics.

However, Sridhar is unfazed by his injuries and says he is physically fit to take on his opponents.

"My previous injuries don't really play on my mind, I have learnt to understand my body and to have it in control. Currently, I am in the best physical shape of my life so that gives me a lot of confidence," he said.