"… Being a player from India defines who I am. When I play, it's for my parents, my coach, and my country,"
Saina's phenomenal success as an international badminton player is one of the most inspiring stories of Indian sports. She comes from a middle-class family and has been groomed into a world-class player in the face of awesome odds. Saina ranks among the top few players in the world and is an icon for the young. She is known for her integrity, courage and persistence.
Saina Nehwal born on 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana attained a career best ranking of #2 in December 2010. Saina is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics, winning the Bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012. She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in 2009. Saina Nehwal was born in Hisar, Haryana and completed first few years of her schooling from Campus School. Her family later shifted to Hyderabad. Saina completed her schooling at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Vidyashram, Hyderabad. Nehwal has a brown belt in Karate. However, she quit Karate at the age of 8, when she was asked to have a motorcycle run over her stomach. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal, both of whom were former badminton champions in Haryana. She is the top ranked player (women) in Indian Badminton history. Saina was the under-19 national champion. Saina created history by winning the prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton tournament (India Chapter) twice, becoming the first player to do so. In 2006, Saina appeared on the global scene when she became the first Indian woman to win a 4-star tournament, the Philippines Open. In 2008, she became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter finals at the Olympic Games when she upset world number five and fourth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller. In 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title, the most prominent badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. Saina is on the par with the likes of Prakash Padukone and her mentor Pullela Gopichand who both won the all England championships which are of similar status to the super series. Saina Nehwal was rewarded with Arjuna award in 2009 and her coach Gopichand was also rewarded with Dronacharya award at the same time. Saina was awarded with Padma Shri award in January 2010. Saina was awarded the highest national sporting award given to a player, The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on 29 August 2010. Currently placed at World No. 2 by BWF World Ranking, Saina has brought laurels for the country time and again, be it the Singapore open super series or the Gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth games. She has won the Hong Kong super series (2010), the Thailand Open Grand Prix (2012), reclaimed the Indonesian championship, became the second Indian to win the Denmark open, and have every major title win in her kit. Saina is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari with the former All England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand being her mentor. And Saina Nehwal is certainly the best thing to have happened to Indian Badminton since Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand.
Trivia
Both her parents were former Badminton champions in Haryana.
She had missed her intermediate exams twice. Once while she was particpating in Melbourne Olympics and then when she was in Philippines.
During her superb performance in Phillipines and Olympics, her phone bill was a whooping Rs.40,000!
Aloo parantha is ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's favourite snack, she can't resist full-milk tea made by her mother.
Her favourite movie is Chak de India, favourite movie star is Shah Rukh Khan.
Roger Federer and P. Gopi Chand are her favourite sportsperson. Saina’s favourite holiday destination is Singapore.
She likes tennis other than badminton.
Saina loves to shop, eat ice cream (post wins only) and play games on her iPad.