HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. 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 thereafter the second Indian player – after
Prakash Padukone Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...
– to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance at
London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. 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 modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
, the BWF World Championships, and the
BWF World Junior Championships The BWF World Junior Championships, also known as the World Junior Badminton Championships, is a tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation to crown the best junior badminton players (U-19) in the world. The championship is held annuall ...
. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, the first Indian to have reached the final of the BWF World Championships, and the first Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She is also the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win a first-ever Uber Cup bronze medal. Nehwal also became the first Indian to win two singles gold medals (2010 and 2018) at the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
. Considered one of India's most successful badminton players, Nehwal is credited for increasing the popularity of badminton in India. In 2016, she was conferred the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
– India's third highest civilian award. Previously, she had also received the nation's top two sporting honours, namely the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award. Nehwal is a
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
and was ranked 18th on the list of most charitable athletes in 2015.


Early life

Saina Nehwal, the daughter of Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal, was born in Hisar,
Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
. She has an elder sister named Chandranshu Nehwal. Her father, who has a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in agricultural science,Get to know Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal
Olympic.org, 18 May 2018.
worked at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University. She completed her first few years of schooling at Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar. She finished 12th grade from the St. Ann's College for Women,
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. When her father was promoted and transferred from
Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
to
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, she took up badminton at the age of eight to express herself, as she did not know the local language well enough to socialise with other kids. Her parents played badminton for a number of years. Her mother, Usha Rani, was a state level badminton player in Haryana. Nehwal took up badminton to fulfill 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. After moving to Hyderabad in 1998, she was enrolled in a
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
class by her parents, which she continued for a year and earned a brown belt. 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 Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
and trained under U. Vimal Kumar under whose training she became World number one; she later in 2017 returned to train under Gopichand. In his book 'Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games', Gopichand said that he felt miserable when she left him and went to train in Bangalore.


Personal life

Nehwal and her family speak the
Haryanvi language Haryanvi (हरियाणवी or हरयाणवी) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Indian state of Haryana and the territory of Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which a ...
at home.Shraddha Kapoor back to her prep for Saina Nehwal biopic
Mumbai Mirror, 25 May 2018.
She is a fan of actors
Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
and Mahesh Babu and cricketer Chris Gayle . She is in the process of opening a badminton academy in her native state of Haryana.PV Sindhu is a top player to beat, says Saina Nehwal
India Times, 5 November 2017.
She married a badminton player, Parupalli Kashyap in a private ceremony on 14 December 2018.


Politics

Nehwal joined the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
in Delhi on 29 January 2020 in the presence of party's national general secretary Arun Singh. Her sister Abu Chandranshu Nehwal also joined the party. She was quoted as saying "
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
is working hard for the country, and has always inspired me."


Career


2005–2007

In 2005, at the age of 15, Nehwal has won an Asian Satellite tournament in New Delhi, beating Aparna Popat in the final in straight games. In 2006, Nehwal became the under-19 national champion and claimed her second Indian Asian Satellite tournament. In May, at age 16, she became the first Indian woman and the youngest player from Asia to win a 4-star tournament – the Philippines Open. Entering the tournament as the 86th seed, she went on to stun several top-seeded players including the then world number two Huaiwen Xu before defeating Julia Wong Pei Xian of Malaysia for the title. A few months after she entered the International badminton circuit, Nehwal participated at the World Championships where she lost to Jiang Yanjiao of China. The same year Nehwal reached the final of 2006 BWF World Junior Championships where she lost a hard-fought match against top seed Chinese Wang Yihan. She also competed at the Doha Asian Games. In 2007, at a very young age of 17, Nehwal went on to take part in the All England, where she challenged experienced Wang Chen in round 2, but went down in 3 games 21–17, 13–21, 16–21. She represented India at the
Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...
in Scotland. At the 2007 BWF World Championships, she won her opening matches against Jeanine Cicognini of Switzerland and 13th seed Juliane Schenk of Germany, but lost the next round to French
Pi Hongyan Pi Hongyan ( zh, s=皮红艳, t=皮紅艷, p=Pí Hóngyàn; born 25 January 1979) is a former Chinese badminton player, who later represented France. Career Pi Hongyan is one of a number of talented Chinese-born badminton players who have emig ...
with score 13–21, 17–21. She was a finalist at the Indian International challenge in 2007 where she lost to Kanako Yonekura in 2 games.


2008

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. 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 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 Maria Kristin Yulianti (born 25 June 1985) is an Indonesian badminton player. She is a bronze medalist in Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, women's singles at the 2008 Olympics. Career 2004 Yulianti played in some s ...
. 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. In September 2008, she won the Chinese Taipei Open 2008 beating Lyddia Cheah of Malaysia 21–8, 21–19. She was also a semifinalist at the China Masters Superseries after she beat reigning World Champion Zhu Lin in quarterfinals. Nehwal won the Commonwealth Youth Games by beating her compatriot N. Sikki Reddy in two games. Nehwal was named "The Most Promising Player" by the Badminton World Federation in 2008. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals which consists of most consistent players of the year. She defeated
Pi Hongyan Pi Hongyan ( zh, s=皮红艳, t=皮紅艷, p=Pí Hóngyàn; born 25 January 1979) is a former Chinese badminton player, who later represented France. Career Pi Hongyan is one of a number of talented Chinese-born badminton players who have emig ...
and Wong Mew Choo in early rounds. She lost to Tine Rasmussen in round 3. She entered semifinals but lost to Wang Chen with scores 21–15, 14–21, 16–21.


2009

In June, she became the first Indian to win a
BWF Super Series The BWF Super Series was a series of Badminton World Federation#Grade 2, Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007 in badminton, 2007. Since 2011, ...
title, the most prominent badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. She beat Chinese Wang Lin in the final 12–21, 21–18, 21–9. Nehwal on winning the tournament said, "I had been longing to win a super series tournament since my quarter final appearance at the Olympics". She is at par with the likes of
Prakash Padukone Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...
and her mentor Pullela Gopichand who both won the all England championships which are of similar status to the super series. In August, she reached to the quarterfinals of the World Championships, losing to the second seed Wang Lin. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals in December, where she lost the opening match to Wong Mew Choo (eventual champion) but won the next two group matches against
Porntip Buranaprasertsuk Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (; born 24 October 1991) is a Thai badminton player. Buranaprasertsuk won her first BWF Super Series, Superseries title in 2011 India Super Series, 2011 India Open on 1 May 2011, becoming the first Thai to win a women's ...
and Canada's Charmaine Reid. She again reached the semifinals of this tournament but went down, this time to Germany's Juliane Schenk. She won India Grand Prix tournament later in the year, defeating compatriot Aditi Mutatkar in the final with scores 21–17, 21–13.


2010

Nehwal became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of All England Open before losing to eventual champion Tine Rasmussen. Top seeded Nehwal reached the semifinals of Asian Championships, losing out to unseeded eventual champion Li Xuerui of China, settling for bronze medal. Her coach Pullela Gopichand advised her not put too much pressure on herself due to the overwhelming home crowd support. Nehwal won the 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. Nehwal, again seeded number 1, won the Singapore Open, by beating qualifier Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei in the final with the score of 21–18, 21–15 having defeated World Champion
Lu Lan Lu Lan (; born 2 May 1987) is a badminton player from China. Career In 2004, she won the Polish Open. In 2006, she won the Korea Open and finished the year in the 5th position in the BWF World Ranking. In 2007, she won the Denmark Super Se ...
earlier in the semifinal. Nehwal reached a career high of world no. 3 in the women's singles badminton world rankings on 24 June 2010. She defended her Indonesia Open title in three tough games against Sayaka Sato, 21–19, 13–21, 21–11. This was her third Super Series title and her third successive title following wins at Indian and Singapore Open Super Series. On 15 July 2010, with 64791.26 points, Nehwal reached a career high world ranking of number 2 only behind Wang Yihan of China. Second seed Nehwal, a tournament favourite, crashed out of the 2010 BWF World Championships in Paris after losing to 4th ranked Chinese Wang Shixian in straight sets 8–21, 14–21. On 27 September 2010, Nehwal dropped to number 7 ranking after giving a miss to China Masters and Japan Open due to her preparation for the
2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...
. Top seed Nehwal won the gold medal in the women's singles in the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
held in
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
. after beating Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 19–21, 23–21, 21–13. After her win Nehwal 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". Nehwal confirmed her participation for the Hong Kong Open after a gap of more than five months since her win in the Indonesia Open in June 2010. On 12 December 2010, she defeated Wang Shixian 15–21, 21–16, 21–17 in the final of the Hong Kong Open to win her fourth career Super Series title.


2011

2nd seeded Nehwal beat
Sung Ji-hyun Sung Ji-hyun (; born 29 July 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from Seoul. She is an Badminton Asia Championships, Asian Championship gold medalist, a two-time Badminton at the Summer Universiade, Summer Universiade gold medalist, and a ...
of South Korea 21–13, 21–14 to win the Swiss Open title. 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 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold tournament. She was a part of Indian team in the
Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...
mixed team who managed to reach the quarterfinals of this elite mixed team event for the first time ever, as India managed to beat Thailand 3–2, even when Nehwal lost her tie against
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
. In the quarterfinals against China, Nehwal put up her best performance and beat the then world number two Wang Xin with 21–15, 21–11, but still the Chinese managed to move into the semi-finals with a 3–1 win over
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. In attempt to record a third straight win at the Indonesian Open, she reached the finals once more where she lost to Wang Yihan of China to finish as runner-up, on 26 June. Nehwal crashed out of the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
as she lost 15–21, 10–21 to Wang Xin. Nehwal, who reached the quarterfinals in the last two editions of the event, had to be content with yet another last-eight finish. During the season ending tournament 2011 BWF Super Series Masters Finals in Liuzhou in December, Nehwal won her all group matches against Bae Yeon-ju, Sayaka Sato and Wang Xin and once again reached the semifinals. She created history by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the final after defeating World number 5 Tine Baun of Denmark scoring 21–17, 21–18 win. She lost the final 21–18, 13–21, 13–21 against the World No. 1 Wang Yihan in a contest lasting over an hour.


2012

Nehwal successfully defended her Swiss Open title by defeating Wang Shixian 21–19, 21–16 on 18 March, a day after she turned 22 years old. On 10 June, she defeated Thailand's
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
19–21, 21–15, 21–10, to lift the Thailand Open title. On 17 June, Nehwal won the third consecutive Indonesia Open by defeating Li Xuerui, a player who was on 30 match winning streak with most dominant performance in the season so far with scores 13–21, 22–20, 21–19. At the London Olympics, Nehwal was seeded 4th in the draw. In the group stage she defeated Swiss Sabrina Jaquet (2–0) and Belgian Lianne Tan both in straight games. She reached the knockout phase where she defeated Dutch Yao Jie with scores 21–14, 21–16. She then faced Tine Baun, the number 5 seed whom she defeated with 21–15, 22–20 scoreline. She afterwards advanced to semifinals where she lost to top seed Wang Yihan in two straight games 13–21, 13–21. 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. On 21 October, she won the Denmark Open after defeating Germany's Juliane Schenk. Nehwal successfully entered the finals of
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, but she lost against Minatsu Mitani in straight sets. She participated at the season ending Superseries Finals. In the group stage, she lost to Tine Baun (1–2), won against Juliane Schenk (2–0) & lost the 3rd match to
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
(0–2). She reached the semifinals but lost a well contested match to Li Xuerui in 3 games, 20–22, 21–7, 13–21.


2013–2014

In 2013, Nehwal reached the semifinal of All England Open also but was defeated by 3-time World Junior Champion
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
. She has yet another quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, after going down to Korean Bae Yeon-ju with score 21–23, 9–21. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals held at Kuala Lumpur where she lost to Minatsu Mitani and Li Xuerui, but won the last group match against Bae Yeon-ju in 3 games. However, she failed to progress to the semifinals. On 26 January 2014, Nehwal defeated World Championship bronze medalist P.V. Sindhu 21–14, 21–17 to win the India Grand Prix Gold tournament. In the final of
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
on 29 June, Nehwal defeated Spain's
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
21–18, 21–11 to win the title. She withdrew from
2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...
due to fitness Issue and injury problems she carried during Australian Open. She lost in the quarterfinals of World Championships again, this time to Li Xuerui. She was the quarter-finalist at the
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
as well, where she lost to Wang Yihan. She became the first Indian player to win the China Open by beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21–12, 22–20 in the final. She contested at the Superseries Finals and won all of her group matches against top seed Wang Shixian (2–0), Bae Yeon-ju (2–1) &
Sung Ji-hyun Sung Ji-hyun (; born 29 July 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from Seoul. She is an Badminton Asia Championships, Asian Championship gold medalist, a two-time Badminton at the Summer Universiade, Summer Universiade gold medalist, and a ...
(2–0). She reached the semifinals once more, but lost to eventual champion Tai Tzu-ying 21–11, 13–21, 9–21.


2015

Defending champion Nehwal won the Syed Modi International by defeating
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
in the final. She became the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the finals of the All England Open, but lost to Marín in the final. On 29 March, Nehwal won her maiden women's singles title at the India Open, by beating
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
. This assured her of becoming World number 1 when the latest BWF rankings were released on 2 April. With this, she became the first Indian player to achieve this feat in Women's category. At the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
held in Jakarta, Nehwal was seeded 2nd. She defeated Cheung Ngan Yi and Sayaka Takahashi in early rounds and reached the quarterfinals where she faced Chinese Wang Yihan. She was able to beat her in 3 games 21–15, 19–21, 21–19; thus assured herself of first ever medal at the World Championships. She beat home hope Lindaweni Fanetri in the semifinal and created history by becoming first ever player from India to contest World badminton championship finals. She settled for the silver after going down to
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
in final. Defending champion Nehwal fought hard before going down to Li Xuerui in the final of the China Open. She took part at the Season Ending Championships where she lost against Tai Tzu-ying and Nozomi Okuhara but won against
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
, a player she struggled to beat in the whole year, in one of the group matches. However she failed to reach the knockout phase.


2016

Nehwal dealt with injuries in early 2016 but she eventually recovered. She reached the semifinals of the Asian Championships after defeating the third seed Wang Shixian but settled for bronze medal, after losing to Wang Yihan 16–21, 14–21. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Nehwal went into the finals after beating
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
in quarters and Wang Yihan in semifinals. She defeated China's Sun Yu in the final by 11–21, 21–14, 21–19. Making her third appearance at the Olympics, Nehwal, the fifth seed, won her opening match against the unseeded 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 making an exit at the group stage. Her coach cited the week-old knee injury for her below par performance. She was appointed as a member of IOC Athletes' Commission in October. She was also chosen as an Integrity Ambassador in BWF's Campaign – "I am Badminton" in December to promote clean and fair play in the sport.


2017

Nehwal went on to win Malaysia Masters by defeating
Pornpawee Chochuwong Pornpawee Chochuwong (; born 22 January 1998) is a Thai badminton player. She was the girls' singles silver medalist at the 2015 Asian and 2016 World Junior Championships. She was also part of the Thai winning teams at the 2017, 2019 and 2021 S ...
with score 22–20, 22–20. She couldn't do well much of the year due to injury; she was still recovering. She was seeded 12th in the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
at Glasgow. She ousted Sabrina Jaquet in round 1. She beat 2nd seed
Sung Ji-hyun Sung Ji-hyun (; born 29 July 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from Seoul. She is an Badminton Asia Championships, Asian Championship gold medalist, a two-time Badminton at the Summer Universiade, Summer Universiade gold medalist, and a ...
in round of 16 and reached quarterfinals for 7th straight time. She had to dug deep into her reservoir to eke out a 21–19, 18–21, 21–15 win over world no. 31 Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the quarterfinal. However, she lost the semifinal to eventual winner Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, thus won the bronze medal. She then won the 82nd national badminton championship by beating P. V. Sindhu in the final.


2018

Nehwal reached the finals of the Indonesia Masters. En route to the finals she beat 3 seeded players Chen Yufei, P. V. Sindhu and
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
. However she finished second-best after losing the final to Tai Tzu-ying. She won her second gold in
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
women's singles after beating P. V. Sindhu in the final and led the Indian team to another gold medal in the mixed team event. She then clinched a bronze in the Asian Championships which was her third medal in the tournament altogether, as she went down fighting to the defending champion Tai Tzu-ying. At the World Championships, Nehwal was seeded 10th. She outgunned Turkish Aliye Demirbağ and advanced to next round. She further ousted 4th seed Ratchanok Intanon and reached World Championships quarter-final for record 8th straight time. She lost tamely to
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
there, in an unexpectedly lop-sided clash. Nehwal was unseeded at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. She defeated Iran's Sorayya Aghaei in round of 32 and Indonesia's Fitriani in second round both in straight games. She then won the quarterfinal, after making a stunning comeback against 4th seeded
Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon (, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, which has been described as 'balletic' by com ...
, when she was 3–12 down in Game 1 but eventually won it in 2 games thus made it to the semifinals. She made history by winning the first medal for India in badminton after a long wait of 36 years. She lost to Tai Tzu-ying in the semifinal, winning a bronze medal. She achieved a rare feat by winning medals from the quintet of badminton tournaments – the Olympics, the World Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. At the Denmark Open, Nehwal was unseeded. She defeated Hongkonger Cheung Ngan Yi scoring 20–22, 21–17, 24–22 in her favour. She then defeated 2 tough Japanese opponents in successive rounds; beating Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara. After an easy win against Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in semifinal, she met her arch-rival and the no.1 seed Tai Tzu-ying. In the past 16 meetings Tai had won 11 and Nehwal wanted to break that jinx but couldn't managed and went down by 13–21, 21–13, 6–21. Nehwal went into the finals of Syed Modi Badminton Super 300 tournament but lost to Han Yue of China.


2019

She won her first BWF Super 500 title, the Indonesia Masters, against
Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's singles, Olympic Champion, three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, and eight-time Europea ...
, after the latter retired from the court injured. Defending her national championship title in Guwahati, Assam, Nehwal refused to play her singles match citing poor playing surface, and went on to win the National Championship by defeating top seed P. V. Sindhu 21–18, 21–15. This was her 4th National title. Her consistent record at the World Championships came to an end after she lost to Mia Blichfeldt in pre-quarterfinal in 3 hard fought games 21–15, 25–27, 12–21.


Accolades


Awards

* Most Promising Player of the Year (2008) award by
Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...
* Arjuna Award (2009) *
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
(
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
) * Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2009–2010) *
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
(
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
) ; For the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics: * cash award from the
Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
Government * cash award from the
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
Government * cash award from the
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
Government * cash award from the
Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India, is the governing body of badminton in India. The association, which was formed in 1934, is registered under the societies act. The body has been hosting annual Indian National Badminton Championships, national-l ...
* Honorary doctorate degree by Mangalayatan University * Honorary doctorate degree by SRM Institute of Science and Technology


Endorsements

In 2002, sports brand
Yonex is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis ( rackets, s ...
offered to sponsor Nehwal's kit. As her status and rankings improved, the number of sponsorships also increased. In 2004, Bharat Petroleum signed the rising star. She is one of the athletes supported by Olympic Gold Quest. She endorses Commune Builder, Edelweiss Group,Saina Nehwal climbs endorsement charts after badminton ratings
The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...
, 4 September 2015.
Emami, Fortune Cooking Oil, Godrej No Marks, Herbalife Nutrition, Huawei Honor smartphone. Indian Overseas Bank, Iodex, NECC, Sahara Group, Star Sports, Top Ramen Noodles,
Vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by British multinational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, ...
and
Yonex is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis ( rackets, s ...
. Nehwal signed an endorsement deal worth Rs. 400 million with the sports management firm Rhiti Sports in 2012. However, she severed this deal in 2013 and signed up with KWAN entertainment and marketing solutions for an undisclosed sum. She has a dedicated sporting range with the multinational sports goods manufacturer
Yonex is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis ( rackets, s ...
, 4% of the profits of which goes to her.


In popular culture

Nehwal has been invited on popular Indian television shows as a guest including '' Satyamev Jayate'', '' Comedy Nights with Kapil'', ''
The Kapil Sharma Show ''The Kapil Sharma Show'', also known as TKSS, is an Indian Hindi language stand-up comedy and talk show broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television. Hosted by Kapil Sharma, the first season of the show premiered on 23 April 2016. The series ...
,
Sam Jam ''Sam Jam'' is an Indian Telugu-language talk show hosted by Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Directed by Arun Seshkumar and created by Allu Aravind, the show premiered on 13 November 2020 on the streaming platform Aha. It marks Samantha's second sho ...
.'' Her
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, ''Playing to Win: My Life On and Off Court'',The Saina Nehwal Story: Birdie's Flight From 1999 to 2015
Skymet, −1 Apr 2015.

India Times, 8 December 2017.
was released in 2012.Playing to Win: Saina Nehwal
'' Saina'', a
biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
based on her life, directed by Amol Gupte with actress Parineeti Chopra playing the title role, was released in 2021.


Legacy

Saina Nehwal Institute of Agricultural Technology, Training & EducationThe Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar will hold a three-day training camp on Mushroom production from September 28, 2015 at Saina Nehwal Agricultural Technology and Training Institute
Public Relations Department, Government of Haryana, 28 September 2015.
at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University is named after her.


Achievements


Olympic Games

''Women's singles''


BWF World Championships

''Women's singles''


Commonwealth Games

''Women's singles''


Asian Games

''Women's singles''


Asian Championships

''Women's singles''


BWF World Junior Championships

''Girls' singles''


Commonwealth Youth Games

''Girls' singles''


BWF World Tour (1 title, 3 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the
Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...
(BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Women's singles''


BWF Superseries (10 titles, 5 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the
Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...
(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Superseries Finals tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament : BWF Superseries tournament


BWF Grand Prix (10 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the
Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...
(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament


BWF International Challenge/Series/Satellite (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

''Women's singles'' :
BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament : BWF International Series/Satellite tournament


National titles and runners-up


National Junior/Senior titles (13)


National Junior/Senior runners-up (1)


Performance timeline


Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 22 September 2023.


References


External links

* *
Saina Nehwal at BadmintonLink.com

Saina Nehwal first badminton academy at Gaur City
at Sportskeeda
Saina Nehwal Profile and latest news
at Sportskeeda
Interview with Saina Nehwal – "Your Call with Saina Nehwal"
on NDTV {{DEFAULTSORT:Nehwal, Saina 1990 births Living people Racket sportspeople from Haryana Sportswomen from Haryana Sportswomen from Hyderabad, India Sportspeople from Hisar (city) 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Indian female badminton players Indian national badminton champions Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for India Olympic bronze medalists for India Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 2006 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni Campus School, CCS HAU alumni Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games