Saina ”The wonder girl”

Badminton over the years has never attracted significant attention in Indian sports. Cricket being the unofficial national sport of India, has always hogged headlines. It is surely ‘the ultimate’ for an Indian sports lover. Even a Vishwanathan Anand winning the World Chess championship five times never brought about a significant rise in the popularity of the sport. Honestly, how many of us actually knew it? The answer would be a handpicked few. The other side of this story is different; ask an Indian how many times has India won the Cricket World cup? The majority will jump the trigger and say 1983 and 2011, and if one doesn’t know the right answer he would be out-casted as a non Indian citizen. Then there is a huge question that would pass our minds, ‘why is Saina Nehwal so popular’? She is by no stretch of imagination related to cricket, then how is she the sporting toast of the nation. Possibly the answer is London 2012, or maybe because she hails from the city of of Md.Azharuddin and VVSLaxman or because her name is quite identical to Sania(Indian Tennis player). Whatever be the answer, currently she is the queen of the badminton world, especially, after her success at London where she won bronze, followed by the Denmark Open win. Then let us dig into the reasons of why sports lovers across the country drool about this Hydrabadi girl.

Ace schuttler Saina Nehwal was born on 17th March 1990 in Hisar District, Haryana and is a sensational badminton player currently ranked number 3 in the world by the Badminton World Federation. Saina is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics. She won a Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic, becoming the second Indian women to win an individual medal at the Olympics. She is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest.

 Her love and romance with the sport started under the apt guidance of S.M. Arif, who was a Dronacharya Awardee, and her proud coach. She is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari along with former all England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand as her mentor. Being born to Harvir Singh Nehwal, who is a scientist at Directorate of Oilseeds Research and Usha Nehwal, who is a former Haryana state champion; Saina Nehwal has always received the support of her family members. She surely has given India an identity in the world of badminton. Super Saina comes across as a girl who possesses the, ‘devil-may-care’ attitude. On court she is like a tigress to say the least, and looks like a human creature possessed. Immense self-belief, perseverance and confidence, separates her from the crowd. Doesn’t her wrist work with the drop shots remind us of Md.Azharuddin or a VVS Laxman? There is surely something about these Hydrabadi’s, they are special just like the Hydrabadi Biriyani.

 It is said that talent without hard work is of zilch use. Sensational Saina followed a tough routine at a very early age. As an 8 yrs old, Saina followed a very tough training schedule where would travel almost 50kms a day. Such was the intensity of her relationship with the sport that she was sponsored by Yonex, a sports equipment manufacturing company, at the age of 12. Did you know she is a brown-belt in karate? That possibly gives her an advantage over her competitors. Karate helps one to attain super reflexes and that in turn increases her mobility on court. She has undoubtedly revolutionized the sport of badminton.  

Her rise to the top also means that many will now take to the sport seriously, as a career option. Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal has almost as many titles under her belt as her age. Well, that is how incredible and amazing this ‘revolutionary’ is. She is ‘revolutionary’ because she has also become the face of the women sporting fraternity in India. Her achievements are colossal. Will the nation ever see someone ever achieve half of what she has achieved? As of now let us just bask in the glory of her success and say its ‘Set, Match and Championship’ to the queen from India.