Saina Nehwal is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and therafter the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance at London 2012.

Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least one medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, the first Indian to have reached the final of the BWF World Championships, and the first Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She is also the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win a first-ever Uber Cup bronze medal. Nehwal also became the first Indian to win two singles gold medals (2010 and 2018) at the Commonwealth Games.

Considered one of India's most successful badminton players, Nehwal is credited for increasing the popularity of badminton in India. In 2016, she was conferred the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award. Previously, she had also received the nation's top two sporting honours, namely the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award. Nehwal is a philanthropist and was ranked 18th on the list of most charitable athletes in 2015.

Early life

Saina Nehwal, the daughter of Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal, was born in Hisar. She has only one sibling, an elder sister named Chandranshu Nehwal. Her father, who has a PhD in agricultural science, worked at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University. She completed her first few years of schooling at Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar. She finished 12th grade from the St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad.

When her father was promoted and transferred from Haryana to Hyderabad, she took up badminton at the age of eight to express herself, as she did not know the local language well enough to socialise with other kids. Her parents played badminton for a number of years. Her mother, Usha Rani, was a state level badminton player in Haryana. Nehwal took up badminton to fulfill her mother's dream of becoming a national level badminton player, while her sister played volleyball. Her father, who was among the top players in the university circuit, used his provident fund to invest in good badminton training for her. After moving to Hyderabad in 1998, she was enrolled in a karate class by her parents, which she continued for a year and earned a brown belt.

She trained under Pullela Gopichand in his academy Gopichand Badminton Academy. In 2014, she parted with Gopichand and joined Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore and trained under U. Vimal Kumar under whose training she became World number one; she later in 2017 returned to train under Gopichand. In his book Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games’, Gopichand said that he felt miserable when she left him and went to train in Bangalore.

Career

2005-2007

In 2005, at the age of 15, Nehwal has won an Asian Satellite tournament in New Delhi, beating Aparna Popat in the final in straight games.

In 2006, Nehwal became the under-19 national champion and claimed her second Indian Asian Satellite tournament. In May, at age 16, she became the first Indian woman and the youngest player from Asia to win a 4-star tournament – the Philippines Open. Entering the tournament as the 86th seed, she went on to stun several top-seeded players including the then world number two Huaiwen Xu before defeating Julia Wong Pei Xian of Malaysia for the title. A few months after she entered the International badminton circuit, Nehwal participated at the World Championships where she lost to Jiang Yanjiao of China. The same year Nehwal reached the final of 2006 BWF World Junior Championships where she lost a hard-fought match against top seed Chinese Wang Yihan. She also competed at the Doha Asian Games.

In 2007, at a very young age of 17, Nehwal went on to take part in the All England, where she challenged experienced Wang Chen in round 2, but went down in 3 games 21–17, 13–21, 16–21. She represented India at the Sudirman Cup in Scotland. At the 2007 BWF World Championships, she won her opening matches against Jeanine Cicognini of Switzerland and 13th seed Juliane Schenk of Germany, but lost the next round to French Pi Hongyan with score 13–21, 17–21. She was a finalist at the Indian International challenge in 2007 where she lost to Kanako Yonekura in 2 games.

2008

Two years after losing the final to Wang Yihan, she became the first Indian to win World Junior Championships by defeating ninth seeded Japanese Sayaka Sato 21–9, 21–18. She participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where she was unseeded. She began her fight with a win against Russian Ella Diehl (2–0) in round 1 and Ukrainian Larisa Griga (2–0) in second round. She became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals when she upset reigning Asian Games champion number four seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller. In the quarter-finals Nehwal lost a 3-gamer to world number 16 Maria Kristin Yulianti. Nehwal was leading 11–3 in the decider but could not hold on against her opponent and lost the match by a 28–26, 14–21, 15–21 scoreline.

In September 2008, she won the Chinese Taipei Open 2008 beating Lyddia Cheah of Malaysia 21–8, 21–19. She was also a semifinalist at the China Masters Superseries after she beat reigning World Champion Zhu Lin in quarterfinals. Nehwal won the Commonwealth Youth Games by beating her compatriot N. Sikki Reddy in two games. Nehwal was named "The Most Promising Player" by the Badminton World Federation in 2008. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals which consists of most consistent players of the year. She defeated Pi Hongyan and Wong Mew Choo in early rounds. She lost to Tine Rasmussen in round 3. She entered semifinals but lost to Wang Chen with scores 21–15, 14–21, 16–21.

2009

In June, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title, the most prominent badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. She beat Chinese Wang Lin in the final 12–21, 21–18, 21–9. Nehwal on winning the tournament said, "I had been longing to win a super series tournament since my quarter final appearance at the Olympics". She is at par with the likes of Prakash Padukone and her mentor Pullela Gopichand who both won the all England championships which are of similar status to the super series.

In August, she reached to the quarterfinals of the World Championships, losing to the second seed Wang Lin. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals in December, where she lost the opening match to Wong Mew Choo (eventual champion) but won the next two group matches against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk and Canada's Charmaine Reid. She again reached the semifinals of this tournament but went down, this time to Germany's Juliane Schenk. She won India Grand Prix tournament later in the year, defeating compatriot Aditi Mutatkar in the final with scores 21–17, 21–13.

2010

Nehwal became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of All England Open before losing to eventual champion Tine Rasmussen.Top seeded Nehwal reached the semifinals of Asian Championships, losing out to unseeded eventual champion Li Xuerui of China, settling for bronze medal. Her coach Pullela Gopichand advised her not put too much pressure on herself due to the overwhelming home crowd support.

Nehwal won the India Open Grand Prix Gold, beating Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in the final and thus justifying her billing as top seed in the tournament. Nehwal, again seeded number 1, won the Singapore Open, by beating qualifier Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei in the final with the score of 21–18, 21–15 having defeated World Champion Lu Lan earlier in the semifinal. Nehwal reached a career high of world no. 3 in the women's singles badminton world rankings on 24 June 2010.

She defended her Indonesia Open title in three tough games against Sayaka Sato, 21–19, 13–21, 21–11. This was her third Super Series title and her third successive title following wins at Indian and Singapore Open Super Series. On 15 July 2010, with 64791.26 points, Nehwal reached a career high world ranking of number 2 only behind Wang Yihan of China. Second seed Nehwal, a tournament favourite, crashed out of the 2010 BWF World Championships in Paris after losing to 4th ranked Chinese Wang Shixian in straight sets 8–21, 14–21.

As on 27 September 2010, Nehwal dropped to number 7 ranking after giving a miss to China Masters and Japan Open due to her preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

2011

2nd seeded Nehwal beat Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea 21–13, 21–14 to win the Swiss Open title. Nehwal faltered after a good start as she lost to the then world number three Wang Xin of China in the finals to finish runner-up in the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold tournament. She was a part of Indian team in the Sudirman Cup mixed team who managed to reach the quarterfinals of this elite mixed team event for the first time ever, as India managed to beat Thailand 3–2, even when Nehwal lost her tie against Ratchanok Intanon. In the quarterfinals against China, Nehwal put up her best performance and beat the then world number two Wang Xin with 21–15, 21–11, but still the Chinese managed to move into the semi-finals with a 3–1 win over India.

2012

Nehwal successfully defended her Swiss Open title by defeating Wang Shixian 21–19, 21–16 on 18 March, a day after she turned 22 years old. On 10 June, she defeated Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon 19–21, 21–15, 21–10, to lift the Thailand Open title. On 17 June, Nehwal won the third consecutive Indonesia Open by defeating Li Xuerui, a player who was on 30 match winning streak with most dominant performance in the season so far with scores 13–21, 22–20, 21–19.

At the London Olympics, Nehwal was seeded 4th in the draw. In the group stage she defeated Swiss Sabrina Jaquet (2–0) and Belgian Lianne Tan both in straight games. She reached the knockout phase where she defeated Dutch Yao Jie with scores 21–14, 21–16. She then faced Tine Baun, the number 5 seed whom she defeated with 21–15, 22–20 scoreline. She afterwards advanced to semifinals where she lost to top seed Wang Yihan in two straight games 13–21, 13–21. On 4 August, she won the bronze medal when Wang Xin retired from the bronze medal playoff with an injury after taking the first game.

2013-2014

In 2013, Nehwal reached the semifinal of All England Open also but was defeated by 3-time World Junior Champion Ratchanok Intanon. She has yet another quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, after going down to Korean Bae Yeon-ju with score 21–23, 9–21. She qualified for the season ending Superseries Finals held at Kuala Lumpur where she lost to Minatsu Mitani and Li Xuerui, but won the last group match against Bae Yeon-ju in 3 games. However, she failed to progress to the semifinals.

On 26 January 2014, Nehwal defeated World Championship bronze medalist P.V. Sindhu 21–14, 21–17 to win the India Grand Prix Gold tournament. In the final of Australian Open on 29 June, Nehwal defeated Spain's Carolina Marín 21–18, 21–11 to win the title. She withdrew from 2014 Commonwealth Games due to fitness Issue and injury problems she carried during Australian Open. She lost in the quarterfinals of World Championships again, this time to Li Xuerui. She was the quarter-finalist at the Asian Games as well, where she lost to Wang Yihan. She became the first Indian player to win the China Open by beating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21–12, 22–20 in the final. She contested at the Superseries Finals and won all of her group matches against top seed Wang Shixian (2–0), Bae Yeon-ju (2–1) & Sung Ji-hyun (2–0). She reached the semifinals once more, but lost to eventual champion Tai Tzu-ying 21–11, 13–21, 9–21.

2015

Defending champion Nehwal won the Syed Modi International by defeating Carolina Marín in the final. She became the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the finals of the All England Open, but lost to Marín in the final. On 29 March, Nehwal won her maiden women's singles title at the India Open, by beating Ratchanok Intanon. This assured her of becoming World number 1 when the latest BWF rankings were released on 2 April. With this, she became the first Indian player to achieve this feat in Women's category.

At the World Championship held in Jakarta, Nehwal was seeded 2nd. She defeated Cheung Ngan Yi and Sayaka Takahashi in early rounds and reached the quarterfinals where she faced Chinese Wang Yihan. She was able to beat her in 3 games 21–15, 19–21, 21–19; thus assured herself of first ever medal at the World Championships. She beat home hope Lindaweni Fanetri in the semifinal and created history by becoming first ever player from India to contest World badminton championship finals. She settled for the silver after going down to Carolina Marín in final.

2016

Nehwal dealt with injuries in early 2016 but she eventually recovered. She reached the semifinals of the Asian Championships after defeating the third seed Wang Shixian but settled for bronze medal, after losing to Wang Yihan 16–21, 14–21. At the Australian Open, Nehwal went into the finals after beating Ratchanok Intanon in quarters and Wang Yihan in semifinals. She defeated China's Sun Yu in the final by 11–21, 21–14, 21–19.

Making her third appearance at the Olympics, Nehwal, the fifth seed, won her opening match against the unseeded Lohaynny Vicente in straight games. However, she lost her second match against the world no. 61 from Ukraine Marija Ulitina by 18–21, 19–21, thereby making an exit at the group stage. Her coach cited the week-old knee injury for her below par performance. She was appointed as a member of IOC Athletes' Commission in October. She was also chosen as an Integrity Ambassador in BWF's Campaign – "I am Badminton" in December to promote clean and fair play in the sport.

2017

Nehwal went on to win Malaysia Masters by defeating Pornpawee Chochuwong with score 22–20, 22–20. She couldn't do well much of the year due to injury; she was still recovering. She was seeded 12th in the World Championship at Glasgow. She ousted Sabrina Jaquet in round 1. She beat 2nd seed Sung Ji-hyun in round of 16 and reached quarterfinals for 7th straight time. She had to dug deep into her reservoir to eke out a 21–19, 18–21, 21–15 win over world no. 31 Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the quarterfinal. However, she lost the semifinal to eventual winner Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, thus won the bronze medal. She then won the 82nd national badminton championship by beating P. V. Sindhu in the final.

2018

Nehwal reached the finals of the Indonesia Masters. En route to the finals she beat 3 seeded players Chen Yufei, P. V. Sindhu and Ratchanok Intanon. However she finished second-best after losing the final to Tai Tzu-ying. She won her second gold in Commonwealth Games women's singles after beating P. V. Sindhu in the final and led the Indian team to another gold medal in the mixed team event. She then clinched a bronze in the Asian Championships which was her third medal in the tournament altogether, as she went down fighting to the defending champion Tai Tzu-ying. At the World Championships, Nehwal was seeded 10th. She outgunned Turkish Aliye Demirbağ and advanced to next round. She further ousted 4th seed Ratchanok Intanon and reached World Championships quarter-final for record 8th straight time. She lost tamely to Carolina Marín there, in an unexpectedly lop-sided clash.

Nehwal was unseeded at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. She defeated Iran's Sorayya Aghaei in round of 32 and Indonesia's Fitriani in second round both in straight games. She then won the quarterfinal, after making a stunning comeback against 4th seeded Ratchanok Intanon, when she was 3–12 down in Game 1 but eventually won it in 2 games thus made it to the semifinals. She made history by winning the first medal for India in badminton after a long wait of 36 years.

2019

She won her first BWF Super 500 title, the Indonesia Masters, against Carolina Marín, after the latter retired from the court injured. Defending her national championship title in Guwahati, Assam, Nehwal refused to play her singles match citing poor playing surface, and went on to win the National Championship by defeating top seed P. V. Sindhu 21–18, 21–15. This was her 4th National title. Her consistent record at the World Championships came to an end after she lost to Mia Blichfeldt in pre-quarterfinal in 3 hard fought games 21–15, 25–27, 12–21.

2023

Saina Nehwal opened her 2023 season on the BWF World Tour at the Malaysia Open Super 1000, where she lost out to the world number 11, Han Yue of China in three hard-fought sets: 12-21, 21-17, 12-21.

She then made successive Round 2 (R16) exits in the India Open and Indonesia Open. She displayed much better form in those tournaments, beating higher ranked Mia Blichfeldt, in front of the home crowd, 21-19 in the deciding game (to break a 5 match losing streak). She then lost out to third seed Chen Yu Fei in straight games. She appeared to be very positive about the 2023 season after her loss, exclaiming, 'everyone wants to win'. She notched a solid 21-15, 17-21, 21-15 victory in the first round of the Indonesia Masters, defeating the world number 33, Pai Yu Po (although she squandered an 8-0 lead in the second game). She was ousted in the second round by Han Yue in straight games. Her improved performances in India and Indonesia resulted in a ranking boost to world number 26.

Achievements

Olympic Games

women's singles
 

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	Wembley Arena, London, Great Britain	Wang Xin	18–21, 0–1 retired	Bronze

BWF World Championships

women singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2015	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	Carolina Marín	16–21, 19–21	Silver
2017	Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland	Nozomi Okuhara	21–12, 17–21, 10–21	Bronze

Commonwealth Games

women's singles
 

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India	Wong Mew Choo	19–21, 23–21, 21–13	Gold
2018	Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre, Gold Coast, Australia	P. V. Sindhu	21–18, 23–21	Gold

Asian Games

women's singles
 

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	Tai Tzu-ying	17–21, 14–21	Bronze

BWF World Junior Championship

women'singles
 

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2006	Samsan World Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea	Wang Yihan	13–21, 9–21	Silver
2008	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Badminton Hall, Pune, India	Sayaka Sato	21–9, 21–18	Gold

Personal life

Nehwal and her family speak the Haryanvi language at home. She is a fan of Shah Rukh Khan and Mahesh Babu Chris Gayle . She is in the process of opening a badminton academy in her native state of Haryana.

She married a badminton player, Parupalli Kashyap in a private ceremony on 14 December 2018.

Politics

Nehwal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi on 29 January 2020 in the presence of party's national general secretary Arun Singh. Her sister Abu Chandranshu Nehwal also joined the party. She was quoted as saying "Narendra Modi is working hard for the country, and has always inspired me."