World championship bronze medallist Saina Nehwal insisted that she always had the self-belief to stage a comeback and beat the best players on the tour but lacked the necessary fitness and feel that could convert good performances in to victories.

The 27-year-old seemed to have found a way to regain that feel and fitness as she defeated Thailand’s Ratchnok Intanon in straight games on Saturday at the Indonesia Masters to reach her first major final since suffering a serious knee injury in August 2016.

Nehwal did win the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold tournament in January last year but the former world number one struggled for consistency and could hardly weave a string of victories to force her way into title contention at bigger events. The only exception was the World Championship in Glasgow last year where she reached the semi-finals but ran out of steam against eventual champion Nozomi Okuhara.

“It was tough. After knee surgery, an ankle problem. When your time is bad, it is bad. So, I am happy that I came out of it. Kept myself relaxed and calm. I was finding ways on how to win. So finally winning happened,” she told reporters after beating Intanon in Jakarta.

“For me last season was not good. I was losing first, second round or maximum quarters. So the training what I did before this, two weeks after the PBL (Premier Badminton League), was quite good. (I am) Not really up to the mark but I am happy that I am moving well,” she said, adding she still feels that another 4-5 weeks of training to build her stamina and strength to perform at the highest level consistently.

Happy with her movement, fitness level

Nehwal, in fact, came into the tournament with little expectations as she has struggled with an ankle injury at the start of the PBL and looked rusty when she ultimately took the court for Awadhe Warriors. The early exit of her team for the competition allowed the 27-year-old to return to training sooner and she opted out of last week’s Malaysian Masters to focus solely on preparing for the Indonesia Masters and next week’s India Open.

“I think being a lower ranked player is very tough. From the first round you are playing very tough opponents. So I am happy that in the first match I played Chen Yufei and came back to win. I think that really made me open up play big matches. So now I have the confidence that I can play long match. So, I am not worried about winning or losing but I have the confidence that I can play a long match,” said the Indian, who will face Tai Tzu Ying in the final on Sunday.

Nehwal has a 5-8 head to head record against her final opponent. Her last win over the Chinese Taipei shuttler came back in 2013 and the Indian has since lost six times against the reigning world number one player.

Speaking about her chances in the final, Nehwal said, “It is my first big final after one year and I want to continue the same form and want to give my best.

“I have the confidence, because I have beaten these players before. But the touch was not coming. I was not able to cross the rounds because my fitness was not up to the mark. But in this tournament, I can see that my fitness is good. Even I am able to hit well, move well. So automatically the results are coming,” said Nehwal, who would be playing her sixth summit clash in the Indonesian capital.

The world number 12 has won the Indonesia Open Superseries, the earlier name of this $350,000 tournament, thrice and lost one final. The 27-year-old also became the first Indian to win a world championship silver medal in Jakarta in 2015 when she lost the final to Carolina Marin.

“The crowd here really supports me and hopefully, it will be like a dream come true tomorrow,” she added.