Revision as of 17:53, 16 April 2015

Saina Nehwal: career till June 2014 From: The Times of India

Nov 2014: China Open

For Saina, it is said & done Maxin Mathew The Times of India Nov 17 2014 Bengaluru:

Bengaluru: Defeating three Chinese players in three days on their own turf is an achievement that Saina Nehwal will treasure more than her commanding title-winning performance at the China Open in Fuzhou.

After a disappointing loss to Chinese world No. 2 Shixian Wang in the French Open quarterfinals in Oct 2014, U Vimal Kumar -her coach at the Karnataka Badminton Association here -had considered advising the 24-year-old to skip China Open and focus on the Hong Kong Open Superseries and Macau Open Grand Prix Gold. However, Saina's fierce determination to defeat her nemesis and win glory on their soil proved to be the game changer for her.

“I want to beat the Chinese in China,“ was what Saina told me,“ Vimal told The Times of India. “That was her thinking process. She was doing exceptionally well during practice and she needed to build her confidence after the French Open defeat.“

March 2015: world no. 1

On 2 April, 2015, Saina Nehwal became world number one after her India Open Grand Prix Gold triumph

A week later she dropped to the second place following her semifinal finish in the Malaysia Open Super Series.

She skipped the next week's Singapore Open Super Series but gained in the rankings after Xuerui also pulled out from the tournament, leading to loss of two positions in the women's singles chart.

On 16 April 2015 Saina regained the number one position in international rankings after China's Li Xuerui dropped a couple of rungs to third

The details:

The Times of India Mar 29 2015

Saumyajit Basu

Saina Nehwal is now world No. 1

1st Indian woman at the top

After going through the grind for years, battling injuries and heartbreaks on the court along the way , Saina finally scaled the women's badminton summit the moment Carolina Marin of Spain lost her India Open semifinal at Siri Fort on Saturday .

“When I joined the sport, I never thought of becoming world No. 1. It was only my mom's dream.. she would say , `Saina you have to get an Oly mpic medal for me'. That's it.Not world No. 1. But today ,I feel like oh my God, world No.1. Obviously it's huge.“ So overwhelmed was Saina that she struggled to express her emotions in words: “I still can't believe it. I would like to see my name on the rankings list...next Thursday .“ Wiping trickles of sweat from her brows and taking a sneak peek at her kit that has a small India flag and her name Saina stitched in gold letters, Saina tried to express her feelings after rushing into her maiden India Open final.

A few minutes ago she had completed the decimation of Yui Hashimoto in a new `smashing' game that she is perfecting these days at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore. Former national champion Vimal Kumar is her new career chaperone and in just seven months, Saina has managed to achieve the top rank which Padukone did 35 years ago.

It would not be fair to measure Saina's achievement in just numbers as it means much more than that. What US is to the world economy , China is to world badminton ­ powerful, seemingly unbeatable and producing champions in a factory line. Saina dared to break that hegemony and succeeded.

Prakash introduced India to world badminton. Saina redefined the sport in the country and became the face of a revolution which has got the badminton world worried. She did this all alone.

Vimal Kumar recalled an incident when a sprightly 15-year-old's fierce determination caught his attention. An injury to Aparna Popat, India's No. 1 player, pushed Saina into the thick of things. She emerged victorious and India won a bronze in the mixed team event in 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. “Her work ethic is absolutely commendable. She is a delight to work with,“ said Kumar.

“It's been a long journey . I've made so many sacrifices. I have shifted from Hyderabad to Bangalore just to beat the top players.

It turned out to be a good decision and I have become the world No .1 in such quick time. In between, I have won the China Open and Lucknow Open, reached the All England final and now I'm in the India Open final. Every player dreams of being here,“ said the champion fighter.

Assured of no. 1 rank, Saina storms into India Open Final; Srikanth sets up summit clash with Axelsen

The Times of India Mar 29 2015

Saumyajit Basu

For the first time since it attained Super Series status, India Open will witness two Indians in the title showdown. Following Saina Nehwal's historic rise to world No .1 and making it to the final in the process, Kidambi Srikanth too jumped into the fray .

Ladies and gentlemen, it will be a Super Sunday at the Siri Fort.

Flaunting a new-found aggression, Saina stomped her way past Japan's Yui Hashimoto 21-15, 21-11. In the past few editions of the event, Saina had to bite the bitter pill rather early. But on Saturday, she was breathing fire, hitting repeat smashes to force a whirlwind victory .

That she attained the world No. 1 rank before the start of match was known to the packed house. Every movement of her was cheered like crazy and Saina waved at the crowd after finishing off her opponent with disdain. She was actually waving her racket like a rapier and the shuttle zoomed like a short-range missile. Hashimoto had no answer.

One has to wait and see what Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon has in store for Saina when they meet in the final.

World No.4 Srikanth pulled off a smooth 2116, 21-13 win over Chinese qualifier Xue Song. “I tried to keep my attack perfect. For tomorrow (Sunday), I have to plan afresh,“ Srikanth said. He will be up against Denmark's sixth seed Viktor Axelsen, whom he had defeated earlier this month in Swiss Open final. Axelsen moved into the final after Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia retired from their semifinal match after developing a back injury .

Carolina Marin is known as the comeback queen in the badminton circle. Saina got a taste of it in the All England final and on Saturday, the Spaniard almost pulled off another revival of sorts.

The first women's semifinal panned out as the best match of the Yonex Sunrise India Open as Marin raced to a lead and it looked like the game was under Spanish control. But Intanon, the youngest world champion, had other plans.

The 20-year old Thai girl launched a war of resistance that spiced up the contest between two contrasting styles, one representing the hard-hitting power-backed European trademark while the other bore the stamp of patience and long rallies.

Ratchanok fell down on a number of occasions but at the end of a marathon 1 hour 24 minute battle, she was the one left stand ing. Ratchanok won 21-19, 21-23, 22-30.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

Women's Singles: Ratchanok Intanon [3](THA) bt Carolina Marin [2] (ESP) 21-19 21-23 22-20; Saina Nehwal [1] (IND) bt Yui Hashimoto (JPN) 21-15, 21 11; Men's singles: Viktor Axelsen [6](DEN)bt Tommy Sugiarto [8] 22-24 17-11 Retired ; K. Srikanth [2] (IND) bt Xue Song (CHN) 21 16 21-13.

`I have made so many sacrifices'

The Times of India Mar 29 2015

The feel-good factor is back. Indian sports fans who were feeling a little low after India's exit from the cricket World Cup have got a reason to celebrate: Saina Nehwal is world No. 1. After going through the grind for years, battling injuries and heartbreaks on the court along the way , Saina finally scaled the women's badminton summit the moment Carolina Marin of Spain lost her India Open semifinal at Siri Fort.

“When I joined the sport, I never thought of becoming world No. 1. It was only my mom's dream.. she would say , `Saina you have to get an Oly mpic medal for me'. That's it.Not world No. 1. But today ,I feel like oh my God, world No.1. Obviously it's huge.“ So overwhelmed was Saina that she struggled to express her emotions in words: “I still can't believe it. I would like to see my name on the rankings list”. Wiping trickles of sweat from her brows and taking a sneak peek at her kit that has a small India flag and her name Saina stitched in gold letters, Saina tried to express her feelings after rushing into her maiden India Open final.

A few minutes ago she had completed the decimation of Yui Hashimoto in a new `smashing' game that she is perfecting these days at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore. Former national champion Vimal Kumar is her new career chaperone and in just seven months, Saina has managed to achieve the top rank which Padukone did 35 years ago.

It would not be fair to measure Saina's achievement in just numbers as it means much more than that. What US is to the world economy , China is to world badminton ­ powerful, seemingly unbeatable and producing champions in a factory line. Saina dared to break that hegemony and succeeded.

Prakash introduced India to world badminton. Saina redefined the sport in the country and became the face of a revolution which has got the badminton world worried. She did this all alone.

Vimal Kumar recalled an incident when a sprightly 15-year-old's fierce determination caught his attention. An injury to Aparna Popat, India's No. 1 player, pushed Saina into the thick of things. She emerged victorious and India won a bronze in the mixed team event in 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. “Her work ethic is absolutely commendable. She is a delight to work with,“ said Kumar.

“It's been a long journey . I've made so many sacrifices. I have shifted from Hyderabad to Bangalore just to beat the top players.

It turned out to be a good decision and I have become the world No .1 in such quick time. In between, I have won the China Open and Lucknow Open, reached the All England final and now I'm in the India Open final. Every player dreams of being here,“ said the champion fighter.

== The Times of India

Mar 29 2015

Manne Ratnakar

SAINA'S STRENGTH IS HER ABILITY TO FIGHT BACK AFTER EVERY SETBACK

Hundred and forty two years after the first shuttle crossed the net in Poona, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman on top of the world rankings. The 25-year-old is also the only Indian to achieve the No.1 rank after the modern ranking system was introduced in the late 90s. Saina achieved this phenomenal feat after world champion Carolina Marin, the other contender for the top spot, lost in the India Open semifinals, paving the way for Saina's accession to the throne when the rankings will be released on Thursday .

The Olympic bronze medallist came close to this when she became No. 2 in July, 2010. But injuries and dip in form pushed her down the ladder before she fought her way back to the top by winning the Australian Open, China Open and the Indian Grand Prix Gold in the last 10 months. Coupled with her splendid show was the stunning drop in form of top Chinese shuttlers like Olympic champion Li Xuerui, former world champion Wang Yihan and two-time All England champion Wang Shixian, which made things easier for Saina. These three top players are still injuries.

After winning a Grand Prix Gold tournament in the Phillippines in 2006, Saina kept getting better. She went on o eclipse the greats of Indian badminton like Prakash Padukone and her ong time coach Pullela Gopichand by winning close to 20 international titles.

With sheer commitment, hard work and never-say-die attitude she stretched to make a mark in world badminton. Very few were surprised when she won India's first badminton medal at the Olympics.

But nothing came easy for Saina.As a girl she travelled about 30 km everyday on her father's scooter for raining. She trained harder than many boys. Though beaten squarely by the Chinese earlier in her career, she never lost hope and finally got the better of them. After her first victory in 2006, she had to wait for two years to win another international title. But the epochmaking moment came in 2010 when she stunned the world with hat-trick of titles ­ India Open, Singapore Open and Indonesia Open.

Then came the injuries. She won only the Swiss Open in 2011 and that indeed was a bad sign in the run-up to the Olympics. She cried and pleaded with Gopichand to do something as nothing seemed to be working. But just before the London Olympics she showed signs of recovery and won the bronze. She went on win the Denmark Open before injuries slowed her again.

She did not win a single title in 2013 and though she won the India Open and Australian Open in 2014 she did not look convincing. Many wrote her off after she decided to split with Gopichand in September, 2014. But she rose like a Phoenix by winning the China Open in Nov and reaching the final at the All England earlier.

Progress to the top

Graphic curtesy: The Times of India