Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal born 17 March 1990) is a professional badminton singles player from India. Active
since 2004 at the international circuit, Nehwal, the former world no. 1, has maintained her world
ranking in the top ten since 2009. She has won over twenty international titles, which include
ten Superseries titles. Although she reached to the world no. 2 ranking in 2009, it was only in 2015
that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking. And thereby becoming the only female player from
India & overall the second Indian player after Prakash Padukone to achieve this feat. She has
represented India three times in theOlympics, winning bronze medal in her second appearance. [10][11]
Nehwal has achieved many milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at
least a medal in every BWF major individual event, namely Olympics, BWF World Championships,
and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an
Olympic medal, along with being the only Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships
or to have reached to the final of the BWF World Championships. [12] In 2006, Nehwal became the first
Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She also has the distinction of being
the first Indian to win a Super Series title. At the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and
remained unbeaten, helping India to win bronze medal. It was Indias first medal in any BWF major
team event.[13]
Considered as one of the most successful Indian female sportsperson, [14] she is credited for increasing
the popularity of badminton in India.[15] In 2016, the Government of India (GoI) conferred the Padma
Bhushan India's third highest civilian award on her. Previously, the nation's top two sporting
honours, namely Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award, were also conferred on her by the GoI.

Personal life[edit]
Saina Nehwal, the second daughter of Harvir Singh and Usha Rani, was born in Hisar.[1][16] Her father
worked in CCS HAU. She completed her first few years of schooling atCampus School CCS HAU,
Hisar.[17] The family later shifted to Hyderabad.[18] Nehwal also has a brown belt in Karate.[19] Saina did
her Xll from St. Ann's College Mehdipatnam Hyderabad.

Career[edit]
20062009[edit]
In 2006, Saina became the under-19 national champion and created history by winning the
prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton tournament (India Chapter) twice, becoming the first player to
do so. In May 2006, the 16-year-old Saina became the first Indian woman and the youngest player
from Asia to win a 4-star tournament the Philippines Open.[20][21] Entering the tournament as the 86th
seed, Saina went on to stun several top seeded players including the then world number four Xu
Huaiwen before defeating Julia Wong Pei Xian of Malaysia for the title. The same year Saina was also
the runner up at the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships, where she lost a hard fought match
against top seed Chinese Wang Yihan. She did one better in the 2008 by becoming the first Indian to
win the World Junior Badminton Championships by defeating ninth seeded Japanese Sayaka
Sato 219, 2118.
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 the quarterfinals Saina lost a nail biting 3-gamer to world number 16 Maria Kristin Yulianti. In September 2008,
she won the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2008 beating Lydia Cheah Li Ya of Malaysia 218 2119.
[22]
Maria Yulianti had earlier lost her quarter-final match to Pia Bernadet, Saina's semi-final opponent,
thus denying Saina a rematch. Saina was named "The Most Promising Player" in 2008. [23] She
reached the world super series semifinals in the month of December 2008. [24]
In June 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title,[25] the most prominent
badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. She beat ChineseWang Lin in the final

1221, 2118, 219. Saina on winning the tournament said, "I had been longing to win a super series
tournament since my quarter final appearance at the Olympics". 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. In August 2009, she reached to the
quarterfinals of the World Championships, losing to the second seed Wang Lin.

2010[edit]
Saina successfully led the Indian Women Team to the Quarter-finals stage of the 2010 Uber
Cup finals. Saina became the first Indian Woman to reach the semi finals of 2010 All-England Super
Series before losing to eventual champion Tine Rasmussen. Top seeded Saina reached the
semifinals of Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championships 2010 losing out to unseeded eventual
champion Li Xuerui of China. Saina's Coach Gopichand advised her not exert too much pressure on
herself due to the overwhelming home crowd support. Saina wins the 2010 India Open Grand Prix
Gold, beating Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in the final and thus justifying her billing as top seed in the
tournament. She won a prize money of $8,280 for winning this BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament.
Nehwal, again seeded no.1 in the Singapore Open Super Series 2010, entered the finals defeating
World champion Lu Lan of China. Saina won the second Super Series title of her career by beating
qualifier Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei in the final of the Singapore Open 2118, 2115. But the fact
that she won the tournament in the absence of all the top 5 ranked players (who all happen to be
Chinese), takes a little sheen away from her path breaking victory. Saina won a prize money of
$15,000 for winning this BWF Super Series tournament. Saina reached a career high of world no. 3 in
the women's singles badminton world rankings on 24 June 2010. [26] Saina defended her Indonesia
Open super series title in three tough games against Sayaka Sato of Japan, 2119 / 1321 / 21
11.This is her third super series title and her third successive title following wins at Indian open,
Singapore Super series.[27] She again won the top prize money of $18,750 for winning this BWF Super
Series tournament. On 15 July 2010, with 64791.26 points Saina Nehwal reached a career high world
ranking of No. 2 only behind Wang Yihan of China. 2nd seed Saina, a tournament favourite, crashed
out of the 2010 BWF World Championships in Paris after losing to 4th ranked Chinese Wang
Shixian in straight sets 821, 1421. She although equalled her tournament best performance, as she
was also a losing quarter-finalist in the last edition held in Hyderabad. She subsequently dropped a
spot to be No. 3 in the world rankings.
Top seed Saina, won the gold medal in the Women's Singles badminton event in the 2010
Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi.[28] She beat Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 1921 2321
2113. After her win Saina said, "when I was a match-point down, it was like a shock. It was a big
match and winning it means a lot to me. Even many years from now, those present here will always
remember how Saina won the gold. It is a proud feeling". [29] In the BWF Super Series ranking for the
year 2010 (which only considers the performances of players in the elite world super series
tournaments), as on 27 September 2010, Saina has dropped to No. 7 from a high of No. 1 after giving
a miss to 2010 China Masters Super Series and 2010 Japan Super Series due to her preparation for
the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[30] As on 5 Dec 2010, for the first time in the year Saina Nehwal
dropped out of the top 10 best performers in the 2010 BWF Super Series rankings.
Saina Nehwal confirmed her participation for the 2010 Hong Kong Super series to held from 7 to 12
Dec 2010 and is also the penultimate super series tournament of the year. This would be Saina's first
super series tournament after a gap of more than 5 months since her win in the 2010 Indonesia Super
Series in June 2010. On 12 December 2010, Saina Nehwal defeated Wang Shixian 1521, 2116,
2117 in the final of the 2010 Hong Kong Super Series to win her fourth career Super Series title. [31]

2011[edit]
4th seed Saina Nehwal crashed out of the 2011 Korea Open Super Series Premier on 27 January
2011 in the 2nd round. She was defeated by the Japanese Sayaka Sato in a tight 3 set match with
score 1721,2119 and 2111. 5th seed Saina, was disappointed when she was defeated by Eriko
Hirose of Japan at 2011 All England Super Series Premier on 11 March 2011. She was defeated in
straight sets with a score of 2111 and 2220. It was her second early exit of the year after being
defeated in Korean Premium Super Series earlier in January. One week later, on 17 March 2011, she
met Eriko Hirose again (in the second round of the Wilson Badminton Swiss Open), but managed to
win this time in three games 2115, 1721 and 2111 on her birthday. 2nd seed Saina Nehwal beat
Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea 2113, 2114 to win the Swiss Open Grand PrixGold badminton title on
20 March 2011. Saina posed an early exit from the Indian Open Super Series in Delhi. She

disappointed the home crowd being defeated by Ai Goto of Japan in straight games 2117 and 2119
.
Saina Nehwal faltered after a good start as she lost to the then world number three Wang Xin of
China in the finals to finish runner-up in the 2011 Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold tournament on 8
May 2011. Saina Nehwal participated in the 2011 BWF Double Star Sudirman Cup Mixed team event,
she won her first match against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei which was a tough three setter 2110,
1221 2117, but India lost the tie 32. She was then shocked in her second match by current Junior
World Champion & 16-year-old teen sensation Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand losing in straight sets
2114, 2220, but India managed to beat Thailand 32 in the tie to book a spot in the quarterfinals of
the Elite mixed team event for the first time in the history of the tournament. In the quarterfinals
against the mighty Chinese, Saina put up her best performance and beat the then World number two
Xin Wang in straight sets 2115, 2111, but still the Chinese managed to move into the semi finals
with a 31 win over India. Saina lost to Li Xuerui of China in the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open GP
Gold.
Defending Champion Saina lost to Cheng Shao-chieh of Chinese Taipei in the second round
of Singapore Open Super Series. Saina, in her attempt to record a third straight win at the Indonesia
Open Super Series Premier, reached the finals where she lost to Wang Yihan of China to finish as
runner-up, on 26 June. Nehwal crashed out of World Championship 2011 as she lost 1521, 1021 to
World Number 3 Wang Xin of China in a lop-sided women's singles match. Saina, who reached the
quarterfinals in the last two editions of the event, had to be contend with yet another last-eight finish.
She lost in quarter finals of 2011 China Masters Super Series against World No. 1 Wang Yihan of
China in straight games 821, 1221. Saina lost in semi finals of 2011 Japan Super
Series against Juliane Schenk of Germany in straight games 1921, 1021. In the 2011 Denmark
Super Series Premier, she lost to 17-year-old teen Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan in straight games 1921,
1321 in the second round.[32] Saina repeated her shocking second round exit in the 2011 French
Super Series as she lost to World No. 16 Li Xuerui of China in straight games 1821, 2930. Saina
lost in quarter finals of 2011 Hong Kong Super Seriesagainst World No. 7 Tine Baun of Denmark in
straight games 1621, 1521.[33]
Saina was defeated in the very first round of 2011 China Open Super Series Premier by World No.
8 Bae Youn-joo of South Korea 2115, 2224, 1521.[34] During the season ending tournament in
December, Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the final
of BWF Super Series Masters Finals after defeating World No. 5 Tine Baun of Denmark to cruise 21
17, 2118 in the semifinals of the 2011 BWF Super Series Masters Finals in Liuzhou (China).[35] She
went on to lose the final 2118, 1321, 1321 against the World No. 1 Chinese Wang Yihan in a
contest lasting over an hour.[36]

20122013[edit]
Saina successfully did her Swiss Open Title by defeating World No 2 Wang Shixian of China 2119
2116 on 18 March 2012,[37] a day after she turned 22 years old. On 10 June 2012, Saina defeated
Thailands Ratchanok Inthanon 1921 2115 2110, to lift the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title. [38]
On 17 June 2012, Saina Nehwal won the Indonesia Open Super Series by defeating World No. 3 Li
Xuerui of China 1321, 2220 2119.[39][40] It was her 3rd Indonesia Open title.[41] On 4 August 2012,
she won the bronze medal at the London Olympics when China's Wang Xin retired from the match
after an injury with the match at 1821, 01.[42][not in citation given] On 21 October 2012, she won the Denmark
Open Super Series Premier after defeating Wang Yihan 21-12 12-7 in the semifinal. [43] Yihan got
retired hurt in this match after losing first set and trailing in second set. In the final Saina defeated
Juliane Schenk of Germany in two straight sets to lift her first Denmark open trophy.[44]

2014[edit]
On 26 January 2014 Saina defeated World Championship bronze medalist P.V. Sindhu 21-14, 21-17
to win the Women's Singles of India Open Grand Prix Gold Tournament.[45]On March,2014 World No. 4
Saina Nehwal, who had a win-loss record of 4-2 against the Chinese ace Wang Shixian, crashed out
of the 2014 All England Super Series Premierafter losing her quarter-final match.[46] Saina took
revenge of All England loss by defeating Wang Shixian in semifinals of 2014 Australian Super Series.
In final on June 29, 2014 Saina defeated Spain's Carolina Marin 21-18, 21-11 to win Women's Singles
of 2014 Australian Super Series.[47] The win helped her to reach the ranking of World no. 7, climbing
two spots.

She became the 1st Indian woman to win the China Open Super Series Premier by beating Japan's
Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20 in the final.

2015[edit]
Defending Champion Saina Nehwal won the 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold by defeating Spain's
Carolina Marin in the Final. She became the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the finals of All
England Open Badminton Championships, but lost to Carolina in the final. On 29 March 2015, Saina
won her maiden women's singles title at the India OpenBWF Super Series beating Ratchanok
Intanon of Thailand. This assured her of becoming World number 1 when the latest BWF
rankings were released on April 2. Thus, she became the first Indian women's player to be World No.1
in badminton.[48] On 16th Aug 2015, Saina went down fighting to Carolina Marin again, in the Final of
World Badminton Championships held in Jakarta, settling for the Silver.

2016[edit]
Saina dealt with injuries in the starting of 2016 but she eventually recovered. She, the defending
champion lost to the reigning Olympic Champion Li Xuerui in a hard fought match at the India Open in
the semifinals. She registered semifinal finishes at the India Open and Malaysia Open. She reached
the semifinals of the Badminton Asia Championshipsafter defeating the third seed Wang Shixian (2116 21-19) in the quarterfinals, but lost to Wang Yihan in the semifinals. She settled for bronze, her
second in the Asian Championships after 2010. In June 2016, she competed at the Indonesia Open
Superseries Premier, she reached the quarterfinals where she lost to the top seed Carolina Marinwith
the score of 22-24, 11-21.[49]
At the Australian Super Series, after registering victories in straight games against unseeded players,
Saina reached to the quarterfinals, where she won a hard-fought match against the second
seed Ratchanok Intanon by 2826, 2116.[50] After registering victory in the semifinals against the
world no. 2 Wang Yihan by 218, 2112, she won her first title of the year after defeating China's Sun
Yu in the final by 1121, 2114, 2119.[51][52]
Making her third appearance at the Olympics, Nehwal, the fifth seed, won her opening match against
the unseeded Lohaynny Vicente in straight games.[53] However, she lost her second match against the
world no. 61 Marija Ulitina by 1821, 1921, thereby making exit at the group stage. Her coach cited
the week-old knee injury for her below par performance at the event. [54]

Awards[edit]

Most Promising Player of the Year (2008) award by Badminton World Federation[88]

Arjuna Award (2009)

Padma Shri (2010)[89]

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (20092010)[90]

Padma Bhushan (2016)[91]

For the Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics

10 million (US$150,000) cash award from the Haryana Government.[92]

5 million (US$74,000) cash award from the Rajasthan Government.[93]

5 million (US$74,000) cash award from the Andhra Pradesh Government.[94]

1 million (US$15,000) cash award from the Badminton Association of India.[95]

Honorary Doctorate Degree by Mangalayatan University[96]

Endorsements[edit]
In 2002, sports brand Yonex offered to sponsor Sainas kit. As her status and rankings improved, the sponsorships increased.
In 2004, BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited)[97] signed the rising star. She is one of the athletes supported by Olympic
Gold Quest.[98] She is the brand ambassador of Sahara India Pariwar.[99] Saina endorsesHerbalife,[100] Top Ramen Noodles,
[101]
Fortune Cooking Oil,[102] NECC,[103] Indian Overseas Bank, Vaseline, Sahara and Yonex. Most recently Saina Nehwal was
announced as the brand ambassador for Honor, the Huawei smartphone sub-brand.[104]
She had signed an endorsement deal worth Rs. 400 million with the popular sports management firm Rhiti Sports in 2012.
[105]
However, she severed this deal in 2013 and signed up with KWAN entertainment and marketing solutions for an undisclosed
sum.[106] She has a dedicated sporting range with the multinational sports goods manufacturer Yonex, 4% of the profits of which
goes to her.[106] Apart from endorsements, she has also been invited on popular Indian television shows as a guest
including Satyamev Jayate,Comedy Nights with Kapil, The Kapil Sharma Show.