Year 2013: Forgettable for Saina, memorable for Sindhu

New Delhi: For Saina Nehwal the year 2013 has been frustrating as she faced title drought but the emergence of P V Sindhu ensured Indian badminton move in the right direction thanks to the introduction of the ambitious Indian Badminton League this year. Last year was a memorable one for Saina as the world was at her feat. She became the first Indian to win a medal at the Olympics -- a bronze in London -- but later on she had to face a series of fitness issues and inconsistent form. 23-year-old Saina could not defend her titles in Indonesia, Denmark, Switzerland and Thailand and ended the year without a single title and slipped to world number six in the BWF rankings as well. The girl from Hyderabad could not even make it to the finals of these events and her best finishes were at Malaysia Super Series Premier and All England Super Series Premier where she reached semifinals. While Saina found the going tough, Sindhu hogged the limelight by becoming the first Indian woman to win a singles medal at the World championship in Guangzhou, China, besides winning two Grand Prix gold titles in the year. The 18-year-old lanky shuttler won the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold and Macau Open Grand Prix Gold in April and December respectively. The male shuttlers too broke new grounds with top player Parupalli Kashyap becoming only the second Indian shuttler after Pullela Gopichand to break into the top 10 of world rankings. The 26-year-old Hyderabadi became the World No. 9 in January and then reached as high as world no 6, before falling out of the top 10.