After notching up an incredible hat-trick of international titles, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday said she is confident of becoming the world's number one player soon.
Reader Nirav Trivedi sent us a picture od Saina Nehwal from Surat.
Saina Nehwal looks set to cap a remarkable year on a high. The ace Indian shuttler entered the semi-finals of the BWF World Super Series Finals with a fine straight-game win over Juliane Schenk of Germany,in Shenzhen, China, on Friday.
Indian campaign in the World Super Series Masters Final got off to a disappointing start with ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju biting dust in their first outing in Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the $ 750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain's Carolina Marin in the summit clash Sydney on Sunday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Denmark Super Series Premier after a shock defeat to Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the quarter-finals of the women's singles in Odense on Friday.
Top seed Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix badminton tournament due to a hamstring injury and fever.
Saina Nehwal continued her rapid rise in world badminton as she gained 11 spots to reach a career best ranking of number 30.
Lakshya leaves Paris with the best-ever finish by an Indian shuttler in the men's singles event at the Olympics.
The shuttlers led by Saina Nehwal will make their first appearance in the Olympic Games on Thursday along with men golfers as India still waits for its first medal after five days of fruitless labour in this Brazilian city.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal emerged the lone survivor at the US $400,000 All England Championship, thrashing Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in straight-games to reach the second round even as compatriot PV Sindhu fell by the wayside in Birmingham.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stamped her authority to storm into the final of the French Super Series outclassing German Juliane Schenk in straight sets in the women's badminton singles in Paris.
She lost to top seed Wang Yihan in the final at the World Junior Badminton Championships.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal remained on course for her second successive Super Series title by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
Lakshya Sen falls to Axelsen in semis, to play bronze-medal playoff
The government rewarded badminton star Saina Nehwal with Rs 25 lakh for reaching the final of the prestigious All England Open Championship in March.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
Ace Indian shuttlers Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal made it to the semi-finals of the men's and women's singles respectively in the India Open Grand Prix with contrasting victories in Chennai on Friday. While top seed Chetan beat unseeded giant-killer Chun Seang Tan of Malaysia 21-15, 19-21, 21-16, world number six Saina thrashed compatriot Sayali Gokhale 21-4, 21-8 in the quarter-finals.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who earned India its first badminton medal at the Olympics winning a bronze at London Games, on Thursday regained her fourth position in women's world rankings released.
The Indian teenager was beaten by Yuan Kartika of Indonesia in her second qualifying match at the Indonesia Open badminton championships.
The 16-year-old Indian ace beat Sachiyo Imai of Japan to make the grade at the Philippines Open badminton championships.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
Hyderabad Hotshots, spearheaded by Indian badminton icon Saina Nehwal, brought down the high-flying, unbeaten Pune Pistons with a comprehensive 4-1 victory in the Indian Badminton League, at the NSCI courts, in Mumbai.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal's poor form in the international arena continued as she lost to Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-19, 22-24, 19-21 in a hard-fought three-game battle in her opening match of the BWF Superseries Finals in Kuala Lumpur.
Saina Nehwal remained static at second position while Kidambi Srikanth dropped a place to be at ninth spot in the world badminton rankings released on Thursday.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anand Pawar advanced to the second round of the Denmark Open Super Series after contrasting victories in the opening round of the main draw at Odense on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women's singles, while Anand saw off Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-12 in the men's singles.
On a comeback trail, Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to her campaign at the Hong Kong Super Series, advancing to the second round of women's singles with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
Saina Nehwal's bronze medal win at the Olympics is the happiest moment of her career. For her coach Pullela Gopichand, however, it means the world.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the semi-finals of the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament in Tokyo after dispatching Singapore's Juan Gu in straight games in just half an hour, on Friday.
A quarterfinal loss at the All England Championship saw Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal slip three places down the rung to the sixth spot in the latest BWF world ranking on Thursday. Saina, who turned 26, went through injuries last year and missed out on a few tournaments this season, including the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and South Asian Games in January and February respectively. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had finished runners-up at the 2015 All England Championship, lost to Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the quarterfinals. The Indian now has 73,222 points. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu improved a place to reach the 11th spot.
Saina Nehwal struggled her way to the second round of the French Super Series badminton tournament after defeating German Juliane Schenk in a thrilling first-round match in Paris.
Chicken pox has rendered Saina Nehwal doubtful for next month's World Badminton Championships even though the ace shuttler remains hopeful of competing in the high-profile event at hometown Hyderabad. Saina, who named among the Arjuna award winners on Wednesday, was down with mild fever since Saturday and it was only on Wednesday that she was diagnosed with chicken pox and advised complete bed rest for the next few days.
Saina Nehwal registered a 21-17, 21-13 victory over China's Li Han to advance to the quarter-finals of Thailand Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok on Thursday.
World Championship silver-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal is aiming to remain injury-free and excel in all the Super Series tournaments in the run up to next year's Rio Olympics.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her title defense on a positive note, thrashing Japan's Sayaka Sato in straight-games in the first round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at Basel, Switzerland.
India's Saina Nehwal and RMV Gurusaidutt notched contrasting victories to advance to the singles semi-finals at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Pune on Friday. Top-seed Saina prevailed over Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia 21-13, 21-13 in just 30 minutes, while fifth-seed Gurusaidutt stunned second-seed Korean Sung Min Park 21-16, 14-21, 21-19 in a 53-minute battle.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina staved off a spirited challenge from World No 44 Mette Poulsen of Denmark 21-19, 23-21 in a 46-minute match.
A profligate defending champion Saina Nehwal faltered at the final hurdle, failing to complete a hat-trick of titles at the Indonesia Open Super Series after losing to Chinese world number three Yihan Wang in the final in Jakarta on Sunday.