Read the journey of Saina Nehwal's in the arena of sports, who is going to regain World Ranking I, after winning Bronze yesterday :India had players like Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand, current national chief coach, in the past but they were exceptions at best. Padukone won India's first World Championships medal, a bronze, way back in 1983 after winning the prestigious All England Championships in 1980, whereas Gopichand won the All England title in 2001. Padukone even rose to the pinnacle of the sport when he was ranked No. 1 in the world badminton rankings in 1980.But the real rise of Indian badminton in recent years can be credited to the emergence of Saina seven years ago, when as an 18-year-old she started making waves by giving tough competitions to the Chinese shuttlers who literally ruled the sport with an iron grip.Saina brought back memories of Padukone and Gopichand when she started winning Grand Prixs and Super Series tournaments, of which she won now 16. She came into prominence in 2008 when she reached the quarter-finals at the Beijing Olympics, a first by an Indian in the sport. Earlier that year Sania also became the first to win the BWF World Junior title. Saina then became the first to win a Super Series title when she triumphed at the Indonesian Open in 2009 and also reached the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships in her maiden attempt that year.Saina continued her rise in 2010 as she became the first Indian women to reach the All England semi-finals en route to reaching a career high world No. 2 in July. She then reached the World Championships quarter-finals again and later in the year won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Two years later, she made history by winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, another first by an Indian in badminton.So far, 2015 has been a watershed year for the 25-year-old Indian youth icon as she rose to the top of the world rankings in April, thus becoming the first Indian woman to achieve the feat and second Indian after Padukone who reached there 35 years ago. Earlier in the year, she also became the first Indian woman to reach the final of the All England Championships where she lost to world champion Carolina Marin of Spain. Then in August, after reaching the World Championships quarter-finals five times before, Saina finally broke the medal drought as she stormed into the final in Jakarta. But defending champion Marin came out triumphant again in the summit clash.Saina, who will be ranked No. 1 again when the latest rankings come out on Thursday, continues to inspire many in India with her grit and fighting spirit as her fans will hope for more next year at the Rio Olympics.
