Saina Nehwal:
The new indian sensation in the game of
badminton is Saina Nehwal.
The current world No. 7 has surpassed all Indian players of the past in terms of achievements, and has written the Indian history of Badminton anew. She is the first Indian player to win a Super Series Tournament, when she defeated a higher ranked Chinese player Lin Wang in the Indonesia Open on 21 June 09.
Saina was born on 17 March 1990 in a small town Hisar, Haryana, India. Both of her parents were past badminton champions in the state of Haryana. It is not surprising that she was attracted to this game, which she loved from her heart with a strong persuasion since the childhood. Influence of her parents worked positively; as a result, she has achieved what no other Indian woman had ever achieved in badminton. The Badminton World Federation gives her seventh rank worldwide.
Her first coach was S. M. Arif, an indian Dronacharya Award winner. Her current coach is the legendary Indonesian badminton coach Atik Jauhari since August 2008. Globo Sport is managing her professional career.
Saina’s parents (Father Harvir Singh and mother Usha) went through an extraordinary hard time for making the dream of theirs child to be a successful badminton player both physically and financially. From the age of 8 years she had to strive hard to become a professional, and for that both parents sacrificed their time and money with endless patience. At one point of time, the situation became such that her father had to take loan from his provident fund from the directorate of Oilseeds Research, where he was working as a scientist. The financial constraint was over in 2002 with the sponsorship offer fo Saina’s kit from the sports brand Yonex. Then in 2004, Indian public sector oil company BPCL enrolled her onto their pay roll. Mittal Champions Trust noticed her in 2005. since then Saina is moving forward with achievement after achievement in cessantly.
She is the reigning under 19 national champion (India), and is a common face in the senior course. She lost to Aparna Popat in the senior circuit, who is former Indian No. 1. She grabbed the Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament (Indian Chapter) twice making her the only player to do so.
She won the Philippines Open, the 4-star tournament in 2006, which was her first appearance in the world scene. She is the first Indian woman to win a 4-star tournament. At that time she was ranked 86th in the world but won the tournament defeating number seed players in the process. Saina became runner-up in the BWF World Junior Championship in the same year losing to the top seed Wang Yihan, a Chinese player in the final. However, in 2008, she won this tournament by defeating Japanese Sayaka Sato 21-9, 21-18. she is also the first Indian woman to have lost in the quarter final of Olympic Games to world number 16th Maria Kristin Yuliyanti. She took the crown of Yonex Chinese Taipei Open after defeating Li Ya Lydia Cheah of Malaysia in 2008.
Declared as the most promising player in 2008 she touched the semi finals of Super Series in the month of December. Her recent success came in June 2009, when she won the title of
Indonesian Open, a part of BFW Super Series. The final point count was 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 in favor of her. After winning the tournament she said, “I had been longing to win a super series tournament since my quarter final appearance in the Olympics”. Of all the Indian past woman players, she is the highest-level achieved player, and is at par with the past men greats Prakash Paducone and her mentor Pullela Gopichand. Both these players won the all England Championship equivalent to Super Series.
Her career highlights from 2003 to present day are as follows.
Year Event Outcome
2003 Czechoslovakia Junior Open Winner
2004 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games
Silver
2005 Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament Winner
2006 World Junior Badminton Championships
Runner Up
2006 2006 Commonwealth Games
Bronze
2006 Philippines Open (badminton)
Winner
2006 Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament Winner
2007 Indian National Badminton Championships
Winner
2007 National Games of India
Gold
2008 Yonex Chinese Taipei Open
Winner
2008 Indian National Badminton Championships
Winner
2008 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games
Gold
2008 World Junior Badminton Championships
Winner
2009 Indonesia Open
Winner