At 20, Saina Nehwal's shoulders bear the expectations and hopes of millions of sports fans among India's massive population.
On a high after clinching the Thailand Open title last week, Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier with a thrilling three-game victory over Japan's Sayaka Sato in the women's singles competition in Jakarta.
Indian challenge ended at the Asia Badminton Championship with Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu suffering three-game defeats in the quarter-finals of the continental championship in Wuhan.
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal will no doubt be the cynosure of all eyes but the India Open Super Series starting in New Delhi on Tuesday, will hold more significance for the country's other shuttlers, who would look to prove their mettle at the highest level.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal says the inclusion of former Olympic champion and her childhood hero Taufik Hidayat in her team Hyderabad Hotshots will serve as a moral booster in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.
Saina Nehwal's semi-final outing in the China Masters Super Series turned out to be a lopsided affair as the ace Indian shuttler crashed out of the event after suffering a straight-game defeat at hands of her new nemesis Zhou Mi in Changzhou on Saturday.
Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she lost her World No.1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Indian challenge ended at the $275,000 French Open Super Series badminton tournament after top seed Saina Nehwal suffered a straight game defeat to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the quarter-finals in Paris.
Her recovery from a knee injury going on smoothly, India's star shuttler Saina Nehwal is hoping to return to the courts by the end of next month.
India's rising shuttler attributed her defeat in the final of the World Junior badminton tournament to exhaustion.\n
Star India shuttler Saina Nehwal has signed a two-year deal with leading sports management group, IOS Sports & Entertainment. IOS will now manage Saina's endorsements, appearances, brand profiling, patents, licensing and digital rights, images and visibility on social networking sites.
Top seed Saina Nehwal breezed through her match as India's shuttlers had a successful outing in the individual badminton event at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday. World number three Saina thrashed Sarah Thomas of Wales 21-5, 21-9 to get closer to her first Commonwealth Games gold, while Melbourne bronze medallist Chetan Anand beat Nigeria's Ola Fagbemi 21-12, 21-6 in 21 minutes to stay on course to better his record at the sporting extravaganza.
The Indian ace beat Soratja Chansrisukot of Thailand at the Hong Open badminton championships.
Two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Sunday. She was shocked by a lower-ranked Shixian Wang of China in the women's singles semi-final. The top seeded Indian ace fought hard before losing 11-21, 21-10, 9-21 to the fourth-seeded Chinese in a battle that lasted 50 minutes.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was on course for her third consecutive Swiss Open title as she stormed into the semi-finals of the Grand Prix Gold tournament after thrashing Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in Basel.
Parupalli Kashyap, who became the first Indian shuttler to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics Games, has said he draws inspiration from London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal. Kashyap, who received the Arjuna Award in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday, also said he is aiming to break into the top-15 of world badminton ranking by the end of this year.
Saina Nehwal beat Ai Goto to become the first Indian woman to reach the final in a four-star event in badminton
Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman to win a four-star badminton event.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal started her season on a winning note, dispatching little known German Nicole Grether in straight games to enter the second round of Malaysian Super Series badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and Olympian Anup Sridhar advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Singapore Open Super Series even as three other Indians were shown the door on Wednesday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal survived some anxious moments before getting past qualifier Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia in a thrilling three-game opening tie at the Singapore Open Super Series on Wednesday.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the women's singles second round at the Swiss Open with a straight-game win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in Basel.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal survived a scare from lower-ranked Japanese Nozomi Okuhara to advance to the semi-finals of the women's singles in the Malaysian Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. The top seeded Indian lost the second game 14-21, after winning the first 21-11, but with Nozomi retiring early in the third, she cemented a place into the last four.
She clinched three individual titles and a couple of bronze medals at prestigious team events this season but far from satiated, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels she could have garnered more trophies had it not been for some missed opportunities.
The 16-year-old Indian badminton ace will meet China's Wen Cheng, at the Asian Junior championships.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal got off to a flying start at the Indonesian Open Super Series, beating Bulgaria's Linda Zecheri in straight games, in Jakarta, on Wednesday. The fourth seeded Indian took just 29 minutes to get past the unseeded Zechiri, winning 21-12, 21-10.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal lit up another gloomy day for India at the Olympic Games by storming her way into the women's singles semi-finals while shooting medal hope Ronjan Sodhi fell by the wayside on Thursday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal cruised into the quarter-finals with a straight games win, but Chetan Anand bit the dust in the singles event of the Malaysian Super Series tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal survived a scare from Hye Youn Hwang of Korea before reaching the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open Super Series in Jakarta on Friday. The world No 8 Indian ace beat the 18th-ranked Hwang 21-7, 13-21, 21-15 in a tough women's singles quarter-final that lasted 45 minutes. Sixth-seed Saina next faces seventh seeded Chinese Lan Lu in the Saturday's semi-finals.
The Indian ace, who attained a career-best No 1 after winning the India Open at the end of March, dropped a rung in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released on Thursday. Defeat in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier to reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China saw the London Olympics bronze medallist drop to No 2.
Saina Nehwal outclassed her Korean rival Jang Soo Young 21-9, 21-14 to win the Indian International badminton tournament.
India's Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to notch up a straight-game victory over Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin and storm into the final of the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold.
India's Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Yonex Korea Super Series losing to Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari in the second round, while mixed doubles duo of V Diju and Gwala Gutta upset the top seed to move into the quarter-finals in Seoul on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal was stunned by Germany's Juliane Schenk in the women's singles semifinals, as India's campaign came to an end in the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament in Tokyo on Saturday.
The sixth seeded Indian ace beat seventh seed Chinese Lan Lu 25-23, 21-19 to set up a title clash with Chinese third-seed Lin Wang in Sunday's final. World number three Lin beat eighth-seed Xingfang Xie 21-19, 21-13 in the other semi-final.
Saina Nehwal shrugged off her opening match disappointment to become the first Indian shuttler to reach the semi-finals of the World Super Series Masters Finals when she defeated Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in the group league stage, in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
India's campaign in the Aviva Singapore Super Series came to an end on Friday after both Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar lost their respective quarter-finals. Tournament sixth-seed Saina went down 21-19, 19-21, 14-21 to China's Wang Lin in the women's singles while qualifier Sridhar's dream run was cut short by Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana. The Indian lost 11-21, 8-21.
