Saina Nehwal
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
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
The Times of India Mar 29 2015
Saumyajit Basu
Saina Nehwal is now world No. 1
1st Indian woman at the top
On 2 April, 2015, Saina Nehwal became world number one. 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.
