Patna: Legendary badminton player Saina Nehwal on Monday spoke about her close association with Bihar, where she had won her first national tournament, and praised fellow athlete-turned-politician Shreyasi Singh, the state's sports minister.

The ace shuttler, who was in the state capital, briefly interacted with journalists.

"It is always a great feeling to be in Patna where I have fond memories of my first win in a national level competition", said Nehwal, recalling her victory in 2007 when she was the women's singles winner.

The 35-year-old Hyderabad-born shuttler, who had formally joined the BJP half a decade ago, lauded Shreyasi Singh, ace shooter and second term MLA, who is now in the Nitish Kumar cabinet in Bihar.

"It is great to see Shreyasi, with whom I have participated in events like the Commonwealth Games, making it big in public life as well. With her team of officials, she is working hard to improve sports infrastructure in the state which has a large pool of talent for different games, including badminton", said the Padma Bhushan award winner.