New Delhi: Saina Nehwal who has become the latest icon of India from field of sports had to undergo a long journey before she became World's number one shuttler.
Saina who recently won the India Open has showed that as a sporstsperson one has to continously keep competing with oneself to bring the best results. Here we look at some of the finest wins by Saina Nehwal which has helped her to gain the number one position in the World.
2012 London Olympics -Bronze medal
Saina Nehwal created history at the Wembley Arena after Xin Wang (then World No 2) retired due to a knee injury and thus handed Saina the game. The score read 21-18, 1-0 before Wang pulled out. It helped India to give India its third medal in London and also managed to halt the Chinese monopoly in the women's game atleast.
2006 Phillipines Open:
This tournament first showed glimpse of a rising star from India. Saina Nehwal become first Indian woman to win a four-rated tournament. She defeated 21-15, 22-20 win over China's Julia Xian Pei Wong. It was first major win for the Indian shuttler at such a big stage.
2014 Chinese Taipei Open :
Japan's Akane Yamaguchi stood in Saina' way for a historic win at Fuzhou. The triumph in badminton's mecca and also pushed to her to top five in World rankings.Yamaguchi lost the game 21-12, 22-20. It was Saina's maiden win in the tournament after six attempts and that makes it all the more memorable.
2010 Hong Kong Super Series:
This tournament can be said to be comeback tournament for the queen of India's badminton. Saina's 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 win over Wang Shixian of China proved that Saina had the ability to bounce back in crunch situations and tough situations. The tournament can be said to be the first step towards Saina's quest to inch closer to the World No 1 ranking.
2012 Thailand Open:
This tournament helped Saina Nehwal to gear up for the 2012 London Olympics. She did a commendable performance in which she registered 9-21 21-15 21-10 win over local hope Ratchanok Inthanon. Saina has also won the Swiss Open earlier that year
