Born on the 17th of March in the year 1990, in Hisar, situated in the Indian state of Haryana, Saina Nehwal is a renowned Indian badminton player, who shot to fame after a series of successful tournaments and also registering herself as the world’s number 1, in badminton rankings.
Currently, she is at the third slot of world badminton rankings. Raised in Hyderabad, Nehwal made a record for herself by being the first Indian to ever win the World Junior Badminton Championships, and by also being the first Indian who has won a super series tournament.
Supported by the Olympic Gold Quest, Nehwal at present is coached by U. Vimal Kumar, and at national level, i.e. the Indian Badminton League, she plays for the Hyderabad Hotshots. Earlier, she was coached by S. M. Arif, who is a dronacharya award winner and also by Pullela Gopichand, until the month of September, in 2014.
She won the bronze medal at the Summer Olympics of 2012 held at London, and a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games held at New Delhi. She has also registered her name at the Commonwealth Games, by winning a bronze medal at the 2006 games held at Melbourne, and a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2010 games held at New Delhi.
In the Commonwealth Youth games held at Pune in 2008, she won a gold medal and in 2004 at Bendigo, she had won a silver medal.
She has not just made a record by being the first woman in India to ever hold a world’s number 1 ranking, but also inspired many young girls who are enthusiastic about pursuing the sport. Until her ranking, it had only been Prakash Padukone, father of Deepika Padukone, who attained the number 1 spot in world rankings of badminton once.
Thanks to her success in her badminton career, Nehwal is a popular face of many brands in India, and many people, especially women look up to her when it comes to their aspirations of achieving their dreams and pursuing their passion, as their career choices.