Badminton Queen of India Saina Nehwal (4 page)

The Super Series

The Super Series for badminton can be compared to the Grand Slam in tennis. No wonder these are the most sought after series among aspiring and established players. The BWF Super Series is a badminton tournament introduced by Badminton World Federation (BWF) in order to improve the quality of the sport. It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. The tournament is played in eleven countries (China hosts two events), with successful players invited to the Super Series final held at the year end. There are about thirteen tournaments in the super series category. These are spread throughout the years.

The next most important ones are the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold.

Grand Prix

There are two levels of Grand Prix Events – Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. These are individual events.

World Grand Prix Events have singles (men/women) and doubles (men/women/mixed) competitions and are open to all badminton players who are members of their respective national associations affiliated to the BWF.

Grand Prix tournaments are classified as Level 3 events, one below Super Series. The highest level of Grand Prix event is the Grand Prix Gold with a prize pool of US $120,000 minimum and Grand Prix with US$ 50,000 minimum. All Grand Prix events offer ranking points to players according to the classification of each tournament.

The Grand Prix events are gaining much popularity with Member Associations and the growth of the sport was again clearly demonstrated with a significant increase in Grand Prix tournaments. In 2011, 12 Member Associations successfully hosted the Grand Prix Gold while 4 Member Association hosted the Grand Prix events providing players with the opportunity to win a total of USD $1,805,000 in prize money.

Playing in India is all about participating in the Commonwealth Games, The Asian Games, and Olympics. This means there are about thirty-five or more international tournaments to play in a year. But sometimes, it is impossible for a player to play them all. All they can do is try to perform well in the games they are fortunate enough to take part in.

So in 2008, Saina did the same. She tried her best to get the taste of victory in the Chinese Taipei open and won. It is rated as the one of the most prestigious Grand Prix tournaments. The same year, Saina also made it to the Super Series Finals. She was the semi finalist in the series. So this way, the slow-moving 2007 in Saina’s life saw a new dramatic turn with the advent of 2008. She was busy with tournaments, championships and much more. This time, she was being observed as a serious player both by the media and badminton fans.

The year 2008 and its busy routine was just the start in Saina’s life. There was a lot to look forward to in the coming years. After all, she had trained a lot and had worked really hard to be a part of this game. It is the perfect time to reap rewards.

Saina ranked 200 and suddenly she climbed up to 28th position. This was indeed a huge achievement. Her major goal was to be ranked in the top 10 category. By the grace of Almighty and her consistent efforts, Saina’s dream came true in the year 2008.

Breaking into the world’s top ten was Saina Nehwal’s long-time dream, and she gave herself till the end of 2008 to reach there. On Thursday, the teenage sensation achieved both with a measure of comfort. With four weeks still left in 2008, Saina made the No 10 spot her own on the latest Badminton World Federation rankings. And by January 2009, she moved up one place and reached the number 9 position.

Saina continued her winning ritual and in 2009, she became the first Indian woman to win Indonesia Super Series. She also won the India Open Grand Prix.

So, when she walked into the P. Gopichand Badminton Academy in the evening, she was greeted like a superstar. The trainees, coaches, friends and well-wishers broke into an instantaneous applause. Receiving the accolades shyly and thanking everyone demurely, the girl got down to business straightaway. She tightened her shoe laces and began to warm up even before the din around her had died down completely.

In an interview followed by the tournament, Saina had said, “Celebrations can wait, but going through the regular grind is the most important thing for a player.”

Of course, Saina savour this moment and considered it as the most precious moment of her life. But she did not let her emotions get the better of her, especially in public. The best thing about Saina was that she remained the same regardless of her performance in a tournament. Whether it is victory, joy, defeat, or disappointment, the girl would just be the same.

In an interview for a renowned newspaper in India, Saina admitted that she was thrilled when her father called her up to announce her latest accomplishment.

She said, “I felt I was on top of the world when papa called.”

After this event, Saina was declared as the first Indian woman to achieve this feat in the era of new world rankings.

Her coach Gopichand was very excited to learn this achievement.

Gopichand said in an interview, “I always believed that Indian players are extremely talented but are not being offered good coaching. When I took over as coach, my important aim was to see a few Indian names in the top ten list. Saina started this process and I am confident that a few more will reach there soon.”

Saina became the second Indian woman to achieve this feat in the history of world badminton. Ami M. Ghia was the first to break into the top-10 of the Grand Prix world rankings in the year 1983.

The achievement served as the icing on the cake in a year in which she reached the quarter-finals of the Beijing Olympics and won the Chinese Taipei Open, her second Grand Prix crown and also reached the semis of the Singapore Super Series and the China Masters Super Series. The 18-year-old also won the Youth Commonwealth Games and the World Junior Championships in Pune.

Saina’s best year was 2010. This was the year in which she climbed up to the Number 2 position. It was the first time an Indian woman secured this position in the field of badminton. Saina holds an amazing quality. She just remembers the good times in her career that gives her a boost. The slump was erased from her memory. Saina just remembered her achievements, landmarks, trophies, and wins. She just relished being on top and getting accolades from fans.

Saina was proud to be an Indian and winning for her country was a pleasure. People had suddenly started to take notice of her. The entire world expected India to produce top badminton player. And Saina was definitely their choice.

For this budding badminton player, each victory counts. She also valued the accolades offered to her. The most prestigious one came in the form of Arjuna Award in the year 2009. This was soon followed by the Indonesia Open and the Chinese Taipei Gold Grand Prix. The moment was more special for her as Mr. Pullela Gopichand, her present coach was honoured with the Dronacharya Award.

In January 2010, Dr. Harvir Singh received a call. Saina considers this call as once in a lifetime. The call came from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The man informed Dr. Harvir Singh that his daughter was going to be honoured with Padma Shri and if she accept it. The call was dream come true for Dr. Harvir Singh. He was elated and conveyed the acceptance.

Incidentally, the following day was Republic Day and the news channels kept themselves busy reporting about Padma Shri winners. Saina’a name was endorsed with pride and the whole nation was singing her glorious achievements.

The award ceremony was conducted on 25th May. The young badminton player was happy to be at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The awardees were seated at the Durbar Hall of the Bhawan. The families were seated on the opposite side. Saina was honoured by the President of India, Pratibha Patil.

According to Saina, the president never spoke to the awardees. But as she went up the dais to receive the award, Ms. Patil informed her that she used to play table tennis. Saina was stunned and couldn’t react. Ms. Patil also added that Saina’s performance was not up to the mark at the Olympics. She also advised Saina to play well the next time. This was undoubtedly the happiest moment of her life.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is the closest to her heart. This is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The term “Khel Ratna” means “sports gem” in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash component.

The award was instituted in the year 1991-92 to supply the lack of a supreme national accolade in the field of sports. Predating the RGKR are the Arjuna Awards that have always been given to outstanding sportspersons in each of many sporting disciplines every year. The Khel Ratna was devised to be an overarching honour, conferred for outstanding sporting performance, whether by an individual or a team, across all sporting disciplines in a given year.

Only one among all sportspersons each year is selected for the award. For Saina, this precious moment arrived in the year 2010. After all, she deserved the award. The badminton player experienced a heart touching movement when both houses of the Indian Parliament gave her a standing ovation in December 2011. Another ovation followed in March 2012.

Some Special Moments
in Saina’s Career

Every sport star has special moments in his or her career. Super shuttler of India, Saina Nehwal is no different. She has played many tournaments and championships since she was a child. She definitely holds some special unforgettable memories with many of these tournaments. Here is a description of some of the most special moments in Saina Nehwal’s career.

The Junior Czech Open

The tournament was held in the year 2003. This was the beginning of Saina’s career. She believes that this game made her famous. Winning the Under-19 tournament in the international circuit was a dream. After this game, Saina was recognized as an international player. This was actually the starting of good things in Saina’s career.

The Philippine Open

The Philippine Open in badminton is an international open held in the Philippines since 2006. Saina Nehwal created history when she became the first Indian woman player to win a four-star badminton tournament. She defeated Julia Xian Pei Wong of Malaysia 21-15, 22-20 in the women’s singles final of the Philippines Open at Pasig City, Manila.

In an interview, Saina said “I am delighted and never expected to win such a big event so soon. My ultimate target is to win the All England championship one day.”

World Junior Badminton Championships

The BWF World Junior Championships is also known as the World Junior Badminton Championships. It is a tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to crown the best junior badminton players (under-19) in the world. The 2008 BWF World Junior Championships took place in Pune, India, from 29th October to 2nd November 2008. This is renowned as a very prestigious tournament. Saina worked really hard to win this tournament.

Saina’s victory was a matter of pride for India. It was actually the victory for Indian Sports. With this game, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win badminton Super Series Title. In this game, Saina played really well. She varied her dribbles and flicks so well. She ran her rival around with a very tantalizing and beguiling mix and controlled the net play.

Indonesia Open 2009, 2010, and 2012

The 2009 Indonesia Open Super Series was the sixth tournament of 2009 BWF Super Series badminton tournament. It was held from June 16 to June 21, 2009 in Indonesia. Saina Nehwal scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after she clinched the Indonesian Open title with a stunning victory over higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta. Saina clinched her maiden Super Series title beating Wang 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 in an edge-of-the-seat thriller that lasted 49 minutes.

Saina Nehwal during the women’s singles final medal ceremony
at the Indonesian Open 2009 badminton competition
in Jakarta on June 21, 2009