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A photo of Saina Nehwal by Nardisoero –

Top 10 Facts about Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal was born on 17 March 1990. She is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least one medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships.

Although she reached the world’s 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and overall the second Indian player after Prakash Padukone to achieve this feat. In the article are the top ten facts about Saina Nehwal.

1. She has represented India three times in the Olympics

She participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where she was unseeded. She began her fight with a win against Russian Ella Diehl (2–0) in round 1 and Ukrainian Larisa Griga (2–0) in the second round. She became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals when she upset reigning Asian Games champion number four seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller. This was her first Olympic Games appearance

At the London Olympics in 2012, Nehwal was seeded 4th in the draw. In the group stage, she defeated Swiss Sabrina Jaquet and Belgian Lianne Tan both in straight games. Afterwards advanced to the semifinals where she lost to top seed Wang Yihan in two straight games. On 4 August, she won the bronze medal when Wang Xin retired from the bronze medal playoff with an injury after taking the first game.

She reached the semifinals of the Asian Championships after defeating the third seed Wang Shixian but settled for the bronze medal, after losing to Wang Yihan 16–21, 14–21. She defeated China’s Sun Yu in the final by 11–21, 21–14, and 21–19.

Making her third appearance at the Olympics, Nehwal won her opening match against Lohaynny Vicente in straight games. However, she lost her second match against the world no. 61 from Ukraine Marija Ulitina by 18–21, 19–21, thereby exiting the group stage. Her knee injury is speculated to be the cause of her defeat.

2. She started playing Badminton at the age of 8

When her father was promoted and transferred from Haryana to Hyderabad, she took badminton at eight to express herself. This is because she did not know the local language well enough to socialise with other kids. Her parents played badminton for several years. Her mother, Usha Rani, was a state-level badminton player in Haryana.

Nehwal took up badminton to fulfil her mother’s dream of becoming a national-level badminton player, while her sister played volleyball. Her father, who was among the top players in the university circuit, used his provident fund to invest in good badminton training for her.

3. Pullela Gopichand was Nehwal’s trainer

A photo of Pullela Gopichand by the Prime Minister’s Office –

If you have gone through our article about P. V Sindhu, the same Pullela Gopichand who inspired P.V Sindhu to take badminton happens to be Nehwal’s trainer. He must have been an iconic and legendary badminton player. Pullela Gopichand is a former Indian badminton player.

Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone.

She trained under Pullela Gopichand in his academy Gopichand Badminton Academy. In 2014, she parted with Gopichand and joined Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore and trained under U. Vimal Kumar under whose training she became World number one; she later 2017 returned to train under Gopichand.

4. She defeated Aparna Popat at age five to win an Asian Satellite tournament

A photo of Arpana Popat and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam by President’s Secretariat –

Aparna Popat is a former Indian badminton player. She was India’s national champion for a record-equaling nine times when she won all the senior national championships between 1997 and 2006. She also started playing badminton when she was 8. Aparna captured her first Senior National title at Hyderabad in 1997. So this was a big step for Nehwal to beat Popat.

5. She became the first Indian to win World Junior Championships in 2008

Nehwal reached the final of the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships where she lost a hard-fought match against top seed Chinese Wang Yihan. Two years after losing the final to Wang Yihan, she became the first Indian to win World Junior Championships by defeating ninth-seeded Japanese Sayaka Sato 21–9, 21–18.

6. She became the first Indian woman to reach the Olympic quarter-finals

A photo of Saina Nehwal by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports –

After she won the World Junior Championships, she participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where she was unseeded. She snatched herself a win against Russian Ella Diehl (2–0) in round 1 and Ukrainian Larisa Griga (2–0) in the second round.

She became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals when she upset reigning Asian Games champion number four seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller.

In the quarter-finals, Nehwal lost a 3-gamer to world number 16 Maria Kristin Yulianti. Nehwal was leading 11–3 in the decider but could not hold on against her opponent and lost the match by a 28–26, 14–21, 15–21 scoreline.

7. She became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title

In June, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title, the most prominent badminton series in the world by winning the Indonesia Open. She beat Chinese Wang Lin in the final 12–21, 21–18, and 21–9. She claimed that winning the tournament was her dream in the super series tournament since her quarter-final appearance at the Olympics.

She was at level 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.

8. She became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of The England Open in 2010

A photo of Saina Nehwal and Shri Narendra Modi by the Prime Minister’s office –

This was before losing to eventual champion Tine Rasmussen. The top-seeded Nehwal reached the semifinals of the Asian Championships, losing out to unseeded eventual champion Li Xuerui of China, settling for the bronze medal. Her coach Pullela Gopichand advised her not to put too much pressure on herself due to the overwhelming home crowd support.

9. She won her first BWF Super 500 title, the Indonesia Masters

The 2019 Indonesia Masters officially known as the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2019 for sponsorship reasons, was a badminton tournament that took place at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Indonesia from 22 to 27 January 2019 and had a total purse of $350,000.

She won the Indonesia Masters against Carolina Marín after the latter retired from the court injured. Carolina María Marín Martín is a Spanish professional badminton player. She is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, six-time European Champion, and the former World’s No. 1 in BWF rankings for the women’s singles discipline, holding the World No. 1 title for 66 weeks.

Marin is one of the greatest female athletes in women’s singles badminton, she holds the distinction of having won a medal in almost every BWF tournament, along with consecutive golds at the World Championships, and the European Championships.

10. Nehwal is married to Parupalli Kashyap

A photo of Parupalli Keshyap by sportsprince –

Parupalli Kashyap is an Indian badminton player. A former World No.6, he trains at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in 2012. He created history by reaching the quarter-finals of men’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics, being the first male player from India to do so.

At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in men’s singles. Kashyap was the Icon Player for the Indian Badminton League team, Banga Beats in the 2013 edition. He married fellow badminton player, Saina Nehwal in a private ceremony on 14 December 2018.