Saturday, August 04, 2012

Saina Nehwal : Shuttle Queen of India


Saina Nehwal (March 17, 1990)  is an Indian badminton player currently ranked 5 in the world by  Badminton World Federation. 



Saina is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics. 

Saina Nehwal was born in a family to Dr Harvir singh Nehwal and Usha Nehwal in the city of Hisar, Haryana and completed first few years of her schooling from Campus School. Harvir singh initially worked in  CCS HAU and they then had their residence in the University Campus. He later shifted to Hyderabad and so Saina spent her growing years in Hyderabad, India. 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 was spotted by PSS Nani Prasad Rao, badminton coach of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, at the age of 8 and he convinced her father to allow her to pursue a career in badminton. And Mr.Harvir Singh backed his daughter's dreams. 


Saina first caught India's attention in 2006, when she became the first Indian to win the Philippines Open despite going into the tournament as the 84th seed. Many top-seeded players lay vanquished in her wake as she announced her arrival on the international scene.


In 2008, she became the first Indian woman to make it to the quarterfinal of the Olympics in the singles event. That was the 29th edition of the Games in Beijing.


She also made it to the World Super Series semi-final in December 2008.


She made history in 2009 when she won the Indonesian Open, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament. She repeated that feat in 2010. She also won a gold medal in the woman's singles event at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, which helped India finish No. 2 in the medals tally.


She is being currently coached by Indonesian champion Atik Jauhari while All England Champion Pullela Gopichand is her mentor. She was previously coached by Dronacharya Award winner S M Arif.


Saina has been honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2009 and Indian Khel Ratna in 2010.







Below are couple of Videos on Saina Nehwal :


Hope Saina will become world number one player in couple of years .. All the best Saina..

4 comments:

Niv said...

Very proud of Saina. I must say Chinese players have a class of their own, thats why they are in the top 4 positions. But if Saina continues to play this way, the day is not far when she will break into the top position.

Jnaneshwara said...

Rightly Said,Nive ...

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Deepika Padukone could have been another medal winner if she'd opted to play badminton like her father than going to movies- just a thought

Jnaneshwara said...

No doubt Shrinidhi.. Prakash Padukone was one of the player who has put Indias name in international shuttle badminton circuit.. But Deepika Padukone turned towards movies..! May be her kids may rock in Shuttle..!