Saina Nehwal widely known as “Queen of Badminton” is a reputed Indian Right-handed Badminton Player. After former Badminton Player Prakash Padukone, she is the first and only Indian woman to become the world no.1 badminton player. On 21 June 2009, she won the Super Series Tournament by sealing the Indonesia Open.
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Early life
Born on 17th March, 1990 (age 26) at Hisar, Haryana, Saina comes from a Jatt Family. Her father Harvir Singh, worked at CCS HAU and mother Usha Rani. She did her schooling from Campus School. Few years later she moved to Hyderabad where she continued her further studies. She passed the 12th Standard from St. Ann College, a renowned Women’s College.
Career Achievements
Soon after completing the 12th Standard, Saina involved herself into the sports. Coach S.M Arif, a Dronacharya Award Winner, who coached her but afterwards she got trained by Coach Pullela Gopichand till September 2014. She started her career at the age 16 and won the most prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament twice and became the Under-19 National Champion. She won the 4-Star Tournament – the Philippines Open in May 2006 where she was the first Indian Women and youngest player to represent India. She defeated ninth seeded Japanese Sayaka Sato by 21-9, 21-18 and became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships in 2008. Later in 2009, she won the BWF Super Series title by defeating Chinese badminton player Wang Lin by 12-21, 21-18, 21-9.
In 2012, she won the bronze medal for India at London Olympics 2012.
In 2014, she won the Women’s Singles for Australian Super Series by beating Spain’s Carolina Marin by 21-18, 21-11. By defeating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the final by 21-12, 21-20, Saina is the first Indian woman to win the China’s Open Super Series Premier.
In 2015, the 1.65 meter tall Saina was the first Indian Women’s Player to be World’s No.1 Badminton Player by winning Indian Open Grand Prix Gold by beating Spain’s Carolina Marin and by beating Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon , she conquered the women’s singles title at the India Open BWF Super Series.
The talented player has been felicitated national glory like Most Promising Player of the Year Award (2008), Arjuna Award (2009), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2009), Padma Shri (2010), and Padma Bhushan (2016).
Saina Nehwal – Net Worth and Salary
World no-1 badminton player, Saina Nehwal’s net-worth is Rs 17 crore in Indian currency, while her annual income is Rs. 2 crores in Indian Currency. Apart from that, her endorsement list is quiet high. In 2012, a popular sports management firm Rhiti Sports has signed her for Rs.40 Crore for their product endorsement. Saina is the brand ambassador of Sahara India Pariwar.
Other than that, she has also appeared in popular Television reality shows like – Comedy Nights with Kapil and Satyamev Jayate.
Personal Life
Being a sports personality, Saina Nehwal has a huge fan following on social networking sites. According to sources, Saina is dating Paruapalli Kashyap. However, in a statement reported by media, Parupalli said that they aren’t in a relationship but they are just close friends.
