Revision as of 18:12, 10 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

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.

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.