Saina Nehwal (the poster girl of Indian badminton.)

Biography:

Birthday : 17th March, 1990

Father’s Name : Dr.Harvir Singh Nehwal

Mother’s Name : Usha Rani Nehwal

Spouse’s Name : ParupalliKashyap

Born In: Hisar, Haryana, India

Nationality : Indian

Introduction:

Saina Nehwal is the poster girl of Indian badminton. A disciple of another iconic shuttler, Pullela Gopichand, this Haryanvi girl has brought home the nation’s first Olympic medal in badminton, a hard-fought bronze. Nehwal was the first of a big pool of talented Indian shuttlers in recent years. And despite drop in form due to injuries in the last few years, she enjoys a highly distinct and decorative trophy cabinet. She is the only Indian woman to have attained the world number 1 ranking; being the second Indian to do so, after Prakash Padukone. She has been a great source of inspiration for countless Indians, especially girls who face numerous hurdles pursuing a career in sports.

Early Life:

Saina Nehwal was born on March 17, 1990 to Dr.Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal at Hisar in the Indian state of Haryana. Her father was a professor and her mother, notably, was a state level badminton player. She has an elder sister named Chandranshu Nehwal. Saina took up badminton, with inspiration and help from her mother when the family moved to Hyderabad in 1998. Soon her talent and wish were noticed and she was enrolled in the Pulella Gopichand Badminton Academy under Dronacharya awardee S.M.Arif.

Study:

Nehwal completed her higher secondary education from St. Ann’s College, Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad. Her badminton training continued along with academics and soon, she chose the sport as her career.

Marriage:

Saina Nehwal tied the knot with fellow badminton player ParupalliKashyap in December, 2018.

Badminton Career:

In 2006, Nehwal was crowned the u19 national champion. As a 16-year-old, she became the youngest Asian champion of a super-series tournament when she won the Philippines Open. She was the first Indian woman to win a tournament of that level. The 86th seed prodigy proved many doubters wrong on her way to scripting history. She also became the runner-up at the BWF World Junior Championship in 2006; a tournament that she won two years later. Nehwal was also a part of the Indian team that won Bronze at 2006 CWG in Melbourne. 

In her first Olympic, in Beijing in 2008, she fought her way up to the quarter finals, being the first Indian woman to do so. In the same year, she won Gold at Chinese Taipei Open and the Commonwealth Youth games. The BWF elected her as the world’s most promising player of 2008. 

Saina clinched the BWF Super Series title in 2009, a first for an Indian shuttler since the tournament’s start at 2007. Earlier, only Indians to win a tournament of similar status were Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand who had won the all England championships. She also reached the quarter-finals of world championship that year. 

2010 started with a high note for her as she was awarded the Padma Shri in January. That was only the beginning of her laurels as she marked the year with several stellar performances and titles. She emerged victorious at India Open Grand Prix Gold, BFW Grand Prix Gold, Indonesia Open Super Series, Singapore Open Super Series and the Hong Kong Open Super Series. She beat Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in a tight match with scores 19-21, 23-21, and 21-13 to win the Gold at Delhi Commonwealth Games. 

2011 was a bitter-sweet year for this Badminton sensation. She faced an early exit at Korea Open Super Series Premier and All England Super Series Premier. After that she regained her flair and won the Swiss Open Grand Prix. But the subsequent Indian Open Super Series ended in disappointment and she could only manage to be the runners-up at the Malaysian Open Grand Prix. In the 2011 BWF Double Star Sudirman Cup mixed team event, Nehwal was a key part of the Indian team that scripted history by reaching the quarter-finals. Despite Nehwal’s win over the then world number two Xin Wang, the Chinese eliminated India with a score of 3-1 on their way to the semis. This was followed by a series of disappointing results for the star shuttler that included a lost final at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier that prevented her hat-trick of the tournament. Things turned somewhat brighter when she became the first Indian singles player to reach the final of the BWF Super Series Masters Finals where she was beaten by the world number one Wang Yihan in a hard-fought contest. 

Again in 2012, Saina regained her winning form. She defended her Swiss Open title and lifted the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title. She finally won her third Indonesia Open Super Series this year. She collected what is arguably the most prestigious medal in her collection, an Olympics Bronze when her opponent Wang Xin took up an injury and had to forfeit the match. Xin was leading 21-18, 1-0 at that point, so this medal might be considered a bit of a lucky one for Saina. Nevertheless, it brought her country immense pride as the Indian contingent secured a record number of six medals from this year’s Olympics. Saina also won her first Denmark Open trophy this year. 

Due to injuries, she had to stay off the court for a major part of 2013. Injuries have bugged her ever since and she had to become highly selective while participating in tournaments. 

2014 saw a glorious return of Nehwal as she beat another star Indian, PV Sindhu to win the India Open Grand Prix Gold. She emerged victorious in both the Australian Super Series and the China Open super series. 

In 2015 Saina Nehwal finally secured the top spot in global rankings following a win at the India Open BWF Super Series. 

Injuries haunted her again in 2016 as she registered a disappointing early exit at the Rio Olympics. However, she had earned herself an Australian Super Series title earlier that year. 

Nehwal began her 2017 with Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold title. She secured a Bronze in the World Badminton Championships while registering a record-breaking 7th consecutive quarterfinal appearance. 

She won gold in 2018 CWG singles and also a mixed team gold in the same games. At the 2018 Asian games, she won bronze in Asian games, completing a rare quintet of badminton tournaments – The Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships, the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. 

She is still going strong in 2019 and has won the Indonesia Masters and her fourth National title.

Awards:

• 2009: Arjuna Award
  
• 2010: Padma Shri
  
• 2010: Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna
  
• 2016: Padma Bhushan