Four years after a bronze at London Games made her the toast of the nation, Saina Nehwal will once again carry a billion hopes when she along with the other six shuttlers, including doubles exponent Jwala Gutta, begin their campaign at the Rio Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday.
Disappointing the spectators at the Sardar Patel NSCI Stadium, Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) opener between Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets, citing a foot injury.
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.
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu, the first Indian woman to bag a silver medal at the Olympics, is the latest athlete whose story is set to be portrayed at the big screen.
The quarter-finals bug bit Saina Nehwal yet again at the badminton World Championships.
Saina Nehwal lost to reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin but her side Awadhe Warriors still beat Hyderabad Hunters in a Premier Badminton League encounter at the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
After breaking into the elite zone of top-10 players, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman shuttler to be named most promising player of the year by the Badminton World Federation.
The 25-year-old Arvind Bhat defeated local favourite Yan Kit Chan in straight sets 21-14, 21-19, while Saina Nehwal had to fight a tough battle to overcome Youn Joo Bae of Korea 21-15, 12-21, 21-13, in the second round.
Back on the court after a month, Saina Nehwal will battle it out against a tough field while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju will aim for a second title at the Japan Open Super Series.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal got a shot in the arm ahead of next month's Olympics as she lifted the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title after rallying to beat Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon in the final of the event in Bangkok on Sunday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal booked her place in the finals of the Denmark Super Series Premier tournament after world number one opponent Yihan Wang of China retired midway through the semi-final clash because of a knee injury.
15-year-old Saina Nehwal created a sensation when she upset eight-time national champion Aparna Popat in the final of the Asian Satellite Championship.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stunned fourth seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong 21-19, 11-21, 21-11 to enter the quarter-finals at the Beijing Games.
The Indian ace frittered away a 10-1 lead in the second game before going down 21-16, 21-19 to second seed Lin Wang in the quarter-finals.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament after a straight-game quarter-final defeat to lower-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark, while giant-killer RMV Gurusaidutt also made an exit, on Friday.
Just days before embarking on their Olympic sojourn, Beijing-bound shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar got a fillip when they were handed a favourable draw in the women's and men's singles badminton competition of the quadrennial event starting August 8. Although Saina's path to the pre-quarterfinals is relatively smooth, the same is not in the case of her male counterpart Sridhar.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal hardly broke sweat in a straight games victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng, which gave her a berth in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysian Super Series badminton, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. The fourth seed rode on her smashes and better net play to outwit Cheng 21-19, 21-8 in 31 minutes.
Title-contenders Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth advanced to prequarter-finals of the Thailand Open after notching up straight-game wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively.
'No country can take India and its badminton players lightly,' says London Olympics medalist Saina Nehwal.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal faces the prospect of an early exit from the BWF World Superseries Finals after going down to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a Group B match in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
National champion Saina Nehwal tried every trick in her book but failed to get the better of top seeded Chinese Xie Xingfang in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Friday. The Indian ace lost 16-21, 17-21.
Adapting quickly to playing conditions at the Rio Olympics will pose the biggest challenge for players, says Saina Nehwal, who is aiming to better the badminton bronze she won in London four years ago.
Media hype after winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal might have affected the Saina Nehwal's performance in last month's Asian Games in Guangzhou and led to her early exit, according to badminton legend Prakash Padukone.
Saina Nehwal's dream of pocketing back-to-back titles were dashed by Chinese qualifier Xin Wang, who beat her in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Johor Bahru on Friday. The Indian second seed cut a sorry figure as Wang took just 26 minutes to score a 21-14, 21-10 victory.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's confidence is back after winning the India Grand Prix Gold.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal staved off a scare from Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari to reach the women's singles quarter-finals in the Singapore Open Badminton Super Series in Singapore City on Thursday. The sixth seeded Indian ace beat 19th-ranked Firdasari 21-18, 17-21, 21-17 in a 50-minute battle to set up a clash with third seed Chinese Lin Wang on Friday.
The third-seeded Indian defeated World No. 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.
Fourth seed Saina Nehwal made a shock first round exit from the China Open as Indian challenge ended in the singles events of the prestigious badminton tournament, in Shanghai, on Wednesday.
India's challenge in the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series came to an end on Friday after both Arvind Bhat and Saina Nehwal bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the French Open Super Series on a positive note, thrashing Jie Yao of Holland in straight-games to reach the second round of the women's singles event at Paris on Wednesday.
Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game 19-21, 13-21 defeat to Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the second round and crashed out of the Denmark Open Super Series, at Odense, on Thursday. However, Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the tri-colour fluttering after a 21-16, 21-19 victory over Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier of England in the second round of the mixed doubles.
Saina Nehwal failed to produce her vintage form of recent years as the Indian ace suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Malaysian Julia Pei Xian Wong in the quarter-finals to crash out of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open in Hyderabad on Friday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal thumped Hung Yung Chan of Hong Kong in straight games to sail into the quarter-finals of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open in Hyderabad on Thursday. Women's second-seed Saina rode on the unforced errors of her opponent and thrashed her 21-8, 21-8 to set up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seed Xian Wong of Malaysia.
Describing Saina Nehwal as a 'phenomenal', her coach Pullela Gopichand today said if Saina had not won the Olympic medal, his life would have been incomplete.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal failed to sustain her impressive touch as she suffered a straight-game defeat at the hands of world No 1 Yihan Wang of China in the semi-final of the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur.
The fourth seed Indian lost 17-21, 10-21 to the world number six Jiang in a 36-minute battle in the women's singles competition.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal's hopes of retaining her Thailand Grand Prix Gold title went up in smoke as she suffered a stunning three-game defeat to Singapore's Juan Gu in the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition in Bangkok on Friday. However, promising youngster K Srikanth kept the Indian flag flying in the tournament, entering the semi-finals in the men's singles.
Olympic bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has been handed a relatively easy draw in the women's singles section at the upcoming World Badminton Championships, scheduled to be held in Guangzhou from August 5 to 11.
Saina Nehwal beat third seed Shixian Wang of China 22-20, 21-12 in the semi-finals of the girls' singles. However, another Indian, fifth seed Gurusaidutt's lost to third seed Zhengming Wang of China 16-21, 21-17, 17-21 in the semi-finals of the boys' singles.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances