Talk about Badminton in India and the whole country praises this young and talented player, Saina Nehwal. She rose to fame within a few weeks with her tremendous ability. She is the first Indian girl to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton championship.

Born in Hissar, Haryana, Nehwal moved to Hyderabad at the age of five where she still resides. Both her parents were former Badminton champions in Haryana. People in Hissar call her ‘Steffi Saina’, after the legendary tennis player, Steffi Graf.

She is coached by the legendary Pullela Gopichand and Indonesian, Atik Jauhari.  Nehwal equalled the three consecutive titles achievement with legendary Prakash Padukone who won Swedish, Danish and All England championship in 1980, Her game was the reason she had to miss her intermediate exams twice. Once, while she was particpating in Melbourne Olympics and again when she was in Philippines. She currently is in 2nd year in St. Ann's college in Mehdipattnam.

The Indian Khel Ratna badminton player is currently ranked number 6 in the world by Badminton World Federation. She was the under-19 national champion. She has been named ‘The Most Promising Player’ in 2008. She has been signed up by Olympic Gold Quest to support her in fulfilling her dream of winning the Olympic gold medal. Saina was awarded with the Padma Shri award in January 2010. Sania’s popularity can be judged by the fact that she has been offered to be the brand ambassador of Deccan Chargers, an Indian Premier League team owned by Deccan chronicle. She was also one of the 8 brand ambassadors of 2010 Commonwealth Games held on New Delhi India. She was recently voted as the third best Badminton Player of the Year 2010 by readers of an international badminton magazine, Badzine.

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