Saina Nehwal faces a tricky draw in the Asian Badminton Championships as most of the shuttlers she is likely to play against have defeated her in the past, feels national coach Pullela Gopichand.
India's top badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth took a big step on way to reaching the semi-finals at the World Super Series Finals by securing second consecutive wins in their respective group in Dubai.
On a day she regained her world number 2 status, India ace Saina Nehwal produced a dominant performance to cruise into the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series with a straight-game victory over Hong Kong's Pui Yin Yip in Kuala Lumpur.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of Malaysia Open after a straight games victory over Singapore's Gu Juan in the women's singles, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. However, India's rising star PV Sindhu went down fighting to higher-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark in the first round.
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.
The teenage badminton star said she is working on her speed and stamina to make an impression at the Doha Asian Games.
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.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma also advanced to the second round of the $550,000 tournament at the Barclaycard Arena.
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.
Ace India shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand notched straight-game victories to reach the pre-quarter-finals in the season-opening Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Newly-crowned world No. 1 Saina Nehwal edged out China's Sun Yu to reach the women's singles semi-finals of the $8500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
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.
Making a comeback after a three-month injury lay-off, Saina Nehwal struggled to make an impression as she went down to Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the first round of the China Open Super Series.
The Indian teenager was beaten by Thailand's Soratija Chansrisukot in the third round.
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.
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.
Lakshya Sen, who won both his matches to play his part in the silver medal-winning effort in men's team event, too dropped one spot to world number 15. Kidambi Srikanth gained a spot to 20th.
Ace Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal on Thursday stormed into the quarter-finals of the All England Open Badminton Championships after their straight-game victories over their respective opponents in the women's singles event in Birmingham.
Vimal Kumar said he will miss working with Saina Nehwal but stressed it is important to support the Indian ace in her pursuit to excel at the highest level.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
She lost to top seed Wang Yihan in the final at the World Junior Badminton Championships.
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.
Indian shuttlers had a bad day at the French Super Series, as Saina Nehwal and three others lost in the second round, in Paris, on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal scripted history on Sunday, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after clinching the Indonesian Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta.
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 continued her consistent run in international circuit, reaching yet another semi-final at the $ 200,000 Asia Badminton Championship, in Wuhan, China, on Friday.
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.
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.
Saina Nehwal and Sayali Gokhale gave India a rousing start at the Philippines Open badminton championship
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.
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.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal said that unheralded Brazilian opponent Vicente Lohaynny "surprised her" as the first round at major events are always "tricky and difficult to play".
Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the second round of men's and women's singles respectively with contrasting victories in Jakarta on Wednesday.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Saina Nehwal's career is her failure to break the Chinese stranglehold. It was the same old story again on Friday, as she went down to China's world No 1 Yihan Wang 21-13, 21-13 in the semi-finals of the women's singles badminton at the London Olympics.
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.
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