There was a time when world famous Indian tennis player Sania Mirza’s name used to be in the media headlines, but in 2006, 16-year-old badminton player Saina Nehwal made her place in the news headlines and won the competition by winning Badminton Grand Prix. Achieved the title of being the first woman Indian. Saina was born on 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana. Saina Nehwal’s father’s name is Mr. Harveer Singh, who is a prominent scientist in the Indian Department of Agricultural Research, Hyderabad. Saina Nehwal’s mother’s name is Usha Nehwal, who was a university-level badminton champion in her time.
Saina Nehwal had a keen interest in badminton since childhood, so her parents started training for Saina with the famous badminton coach Gopichand. Although at the age of 9, Saina started the game and her coaches were Nani Prasad, Govardhan Reddy and SM Arif. Saina Nehwal’s coaching took place at Hyderabad’s academy of India’s star badminton player Pullela Gopichand, where Gopichand himself taught badminton to Saina.
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In the Philippines Open Badminton, Saina performed better than the expectations of her coach Gopichand. Before going to the tournament, it was said about Saina Nehwal that these 16-17 year olds should play in B grade tournament before coming to the main tournament. Saina Nehwal proved this false by winning the tournament. With her talent, he also broke the general belief that only experienced players can win the competition.
Saina Nehwal is a member of the team that won seven medals in the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2005 in the Asian Satellite Badminton 2005 Junior Czech Open, National Junior and Sub Junior twice Senior National Runner-up. The main feature of her game is aggressive game and half smash. Apart from sports, her interest in reading books and watching movies is special. Saina Nehwal made history by defeating Julia Pei Wong of Malaysia in May 2006 and winning the Philippines Open Badminton Championship in Manila. In this game, he got the seventh position and defeated the world number 66 player.
Saina Nehwal could not believe this victory and her coach Gopichand was very happy. Saina Nehwal credited this victory to Gopichand. The same Gopichand was proud of her disciple. Aparna Popat, former India’s best player of Saina, got entry into the semi-finals at the Swedish Open in 1999. During this victory, She defeated world number 4 Ju Juwen of Germany in the quarterfinals. Saina Nehwal’s ranking at that time was 86, while earlier her ranking was 185.
Saina Nehwal confirmed her place in the final of the Junior World Championship in 2006. She became the first woman in India to win the Star Badminton Tournament. It was the Philippines Open Four Star tournament. Saina won the bronze medal in the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games. In 2006, Saina’s talent came to the fore when she defeated India by defeating Sarojita Chancery Sukkot of Thailand in the Uber Cup quarterfinal in Jaipur.
After this Saina Nehwal defeated England’s Tracy Helm in addition to other players from Australia. She also defeated Rebecca Bellingham of New Zealand while winning the bronze medal. Saina’s performance at the Doha Asian Games in December 2006 was normal. She competed fiercely with world number 14 player Eriko Hirose. In September 2006, Saina Nehwal jumped 11 points to reach the 30th position in the world rankings.
In 2007, after a little slow pace, Saina again shot fiercely and made 2008 her best year so far. In the same year, Beijing failed to take the medal in the Olympic Games but became the first Indian woman to reach the quarterfinals. He defeated Wang Chen of the world number four and Hong Kong’s fourth seed. Before the Olympics, Nehwal made a big splash in South Asia. She reached the semi-finals of GP, Old and Singapore Series 2008 of Thailand Open. He got her second GP, Chinese Taipei GP. Also won
She won the World Open in the Philippines Open and Commonwealth Youth Games Championship and then in Pune. Saina Nehwal’s career flourished at a time when she needed financial help. Apart from the government, She is also always ready to meet the lack of money at the time of the tournament, the Champions Trust established by the steel industrialist of London, Laxminarayan Mittal. Her management committee Globo Sports has also made some agreements with him. The instructors of Saina Nehwal believe that Saina has all the qualities to become a world champion.
Saina Nehwal at a Glance
| Birth Name | Saina Nehwal |
| Nationality | India |
| Date of Birth | 17 March 1990 |
| Birth place | Hisar, Haryana |
| Habitat | Hyderabad |
| Dad’s Name | Dr. Harveer Singh Nehwal |
| Mother’s Name | Usha Nehwal |
| Brother | Is not |
| Sister | Chandrashu Nehwal |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 feet 5 inches) |
| Weight | 66 kg (146 lb) |
| The Coach | Pullela Gopichand |
| Favourite Food | Aloo Paratha |
| Favourite Actor | Shahrukh Khan |
| Favorite Player | Sachin Tendulkar, Roger Federer |
| Favorite Place | Singapore |
| Hobby | To roam around |
| Marital Status | Single |
| The Honor | |
| Padmashree (2010), Arjuna Award (2009) | |
| Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2009–2010) | |
| Padma Bhushan (2016) | |
| Female Single | |
| Career Title | 23 |
| The Best Ranking | 1 (2 April 2015) |
| Current Ranking | 10 (19 July 2018) |
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