Saina Nehwal: How did the Haryanvi girl become a top badminton player?

Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal has been in the position of the World Number 1 since 2015. She is the only female from India and the second Indian player to gain this status after Prakash Padukone. She has won 24 international titles including 11 Superseries titles so far. She has represented India three times in the Olympics and won several medals. Saina Nehwal’s current world ranking is number 8.

How did the Haryanvi girl become the top badminton player?

A look at Saina Nehwal’s life

Saina Nehwal was born on March 17, 1990, to Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal in Hisar, Haryana. She completed her first year of schooling at Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar. She shifted to Hyderabad as her father got transferred. She completed her 12^th grade from St. Ann’s College for Women at Medhipatnam, Hyderabad. Nehwal started to play badminton at the age of eight to socialize with other kids as she did not know the local language of Hyderabad. She took up badminton as a profession to fulfil her mother’s dream of becoming a national level badminton player.

Career

Saina Nehwal became the under-19 national champion in 2006 and created history by winning the prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament (India Chapter) twice. She became the first player to do so. She won the Philippines Open in May 2006 at the age of 16. She was the first Indian woman and the youngest player from Asia to win this 4-star tournament. Nehwal was named “The Most Promising Player” in 2008 when she reached the world super series semifinals. In 2009, Saina became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title. Nehwal reached a career-high of number 3 in the women’s singles badminton world rankings in June 2010.

Also read | PV Sindhu: Inspirational Quotes From India's First BWF World Champion

Saina Nehwal won the gold medal in the Women’s Singles badminton event in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. In the semi-finals of the 2011 BWF Super Series Masters Finals, Saina created history by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the final of the series. The Indian shuttler won the bronze medal at the London Olympics on August 4, 2012. Nehwal suffered injuries in early 2016 but eventually recovered. The badminton ace settled for her second bronze in the Asian Championships in 2016. Saina Nehwal won the 82^nd national badminton championship by beating P.V. Sindhu in the final of the World Badminton Championship in 2017. Saina won her 2^nd gold at the Commonwealth Games Women’s Singles after beating P.V. Sindhu in 2018. She eventually brought 2^nd gold to India in the mixed team event.

Also read | Saina Nehwal Praises PV Sindhu For Winning World Championship Title

Also read | AP CM Reddy Assures PV Sindhu Of Girls Badminton Academy In State

Also read | PV Sindhu: Indian Badminton Needs More High-level Qualified Coaches