Saina Nehwal is an ace female Indian badminton player who has won many accolades for the country. With her tremendous efforts and hard work, she continued to make India proud at various international sport platforms as soon as she stepped in the sports industry. Saina successfully became the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal. She represented India in the Olympics thrice, but managed to won a bronze medal in the second appearance.

Childhood & Early Life

Saina Nehwal was born to Dr. Harvir Singh Nehwal (father) and Usha Rani Nehwal (mother) on 17th March 1990 in the district of Hisar in Haryana. She was the second and the youngest child born in the family.

As her father got promoted and transferred to Hyderabad while she was in school, she completed only a part of her schooling from Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar. She pursued her intermediate from St. Ann's College for Women at Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad. As she had no clue of the language being spoken in the Hyderabad city, she enrolled herself for badminton.

The game of badminton is in her blood. Saina's parents were badminton players themselves. Her mother was a state level badminton player in Haryana while her father was counted among the most amazing badminton players in the university circuit. It was only because of her mother that she took up badminton as a professional sport. It was her mother's dream to see her becoming a national level badminton champion.

Training

Having a career in sports is not an easy dish that you can relish. Neither a recommendation from high-level person works in the sports industry. It is the only the hard work that pays off. It takes a lot of sacrifices and financial strength to make a career in sports. Saina's father had to withdraw his provident fund in order to get her good training in the game. In the beginning, she got trained under the appropriate guidance of S.M. Arif, who was a Dronacharya Awardee. As of now, she is being coached by by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari and former all England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand as her trainer.

Achievements

Saina Nehwal, being a national junior champion, performed extraordinarily at the national and international tournaments at the beginning of her career. She has bagged more than 23 international titles including the 10 Superseries titles. In 2015, she was the only female badminton player who achieved the world's number one ranking after Prakash Padukone. She won the Junior Czech Open Tournament in 2003 and won a second place in the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games. She successfully became the first player to win the Asian Satellite Badminton tournament for two consecutive years, 2005 and 2006. In 2006, she won the Philippines Open and became the first women to do so.

In 2008, she also became the first Indian player to win World Junior Badminton Championships. She was even declared the most promising player in the same year. Saina won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics in badminton making her the only India to mark such success. She was also offered massive cash prizes by the state governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and a job opportunity equivalent to the rank of an IAS officer by the Sports.

It was under her leadership in the 2014 Uber Cup, that the Indian team won the bronze medal. This medal was the first of its kind won by India in any BWF major team event.

Awards

• 2009: Arjuna Award
• 2009-10: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
• 2010: Padma Shri
• 2016: Padma Bhushan

Apart from being a leading female national and international sports personality, Saina Nehwal is a philanthropist. So, much so that she is even ranked at the 18th position in the list of most charitable athletes. She is about to open a badminton academy in Haryana. One of the most prominent sportsperson in India, Saina is touted as a person for popularizing badminton in India. She is truly an inspiration for all the women out there who want to pursue a career in the field of sports and wish to make their country proud.