[Saba Sports News] Recently, former badminton world number one Saina Nehwal announced her retirement. Records show that Nehwal is the first Indian player to win an Olympic medal in badminton, having achieved over 20 championship titles in international competitions throughout her career, including the 2008 World Junior Badminton Championships, a bronze medal in women’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics, and the 2019 Indonesia Masters title.
In 2009, Nehwal became the first Indian woman to win the Indonesia Super Series title, joining the ranks of champions like Li Lingwei, Susi Susanti, and TAI Tzu-Ying, each of whom has won the event at least three times. After winning four consecutive points tournaments in 2010, Nehwal’s world ranking soared to number one. Subsequently, she also claimed the Thailand Open title in 2012 and secured the women’s singles silver medal at the World Championships in 2015.
Due to her outstanding achievements in her career, Nehwal received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and was dubbed “India’s Kim Yuna” by Indian media, marking her as the best badminton player in India’s history.