Saina Nehwal out of England Open 2012

India's last remaining challenge at the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2012 being held at Birmingham, UK, came to an end, when Saina Nehwal lost in the quarterfinals to World No.5 Xuerui Li of China. Xuerui Li defeated Saina 21-13, 23-21.

Amongst the other Indians in the fray at the England Open 2012, PV Sindhu the new Indian National women's badminton champion, had done well to reach from the qualifying rounds to the main draw. However in the first round of the main event she went down fighting to Tzu Ying Tai of Taiwan who defeated her in a closely fought match 14-21 21-16 21-19.

In the men's singles, RMV Guru Sai Dutt and Sourabh Verma failed to progress from the qualifiers to the main draw, while Ajay Jayaram and P.Kashyap lost in the first round of the main event.

The same story was repeated for India, in the doubles sections of the England Open-2012, with Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas in the men's doubles, V.Diju and Jwala Gutta in the mixed doubles, losing their respective opening round matches.

The women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa did slightly better to get past the opening hurdle but their further hopes were dashed as they lost their way in the 2nd round losing to second seeded Chinese pair of Qing Tian & Yunlei Zhao.

The only Indians to have ever won the All England Open badminton championships are former players Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand, and there are many Indians who feel that Saina has the talent to repeat this extraordinary feat. However at least for this year, this was not to be.


For Saina Nehwal, it must have been disappointing to lose once again in the quarter-finals. Reminds of her loss at the same tournament last year when she had lost to lower ranked Eriko Hirose of Japan in the quarters. Not to forget that Saina had won the Swiss Open immediately after that loss.

Here's more on what had happened last year Saina crashes out of England Open-2011, and lets wish her all the best for the next badminton tournament in the queue, the Swiss Open 2012.


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Saina Nehwal wins Silver at Li Ning BWF World Superseries Finals 2011

World no.4 Saina Nehwal finally ended her mostly dry run of this year with a bang as she clinched the Silver medal at the Li Ning BWF World Superseries Finals 2011.

Saina fought well in the finals stretching her opponent the reigning world no.1 Yihan Wang of China to three sets before eventually losing 18-21 21-13 21-13 in the closely contested final match. Earlier Saina had defeated world no.5 Tine Baun of Denmark in straight sets 21-17 21-18 in the semi-finals.

The BWF World Superseries finals is one of the world's most prestigious badminton events in which all the top badminton players of the world participate.

Compared to last year when Saina was on a roll, this year was difficult for her, plagued as she was with lack of fitness and form. Her only notable title win of this year was the Swiss Open Grand Prix which she had won in March-2011. She had also won Silver medals at the Malaysia open grand prix gold and the Indonesia open superseries premier tournaments this year. But other than these performances, most of 2011 did not manage to bring much glee to her badminton fans.

However with this creditable performance at the BWF World Superseries Finals, she looks to have got back the spark again, and looks all set for a great performance at the forthcoming Olympics which is to be held in London the next year.

While Yihan Wang grabbed the Gold medal in the Women's Singles, Lin Dan also of China clinched the men's singles title.

The results in the doubles sections were also mostly in favour of the Chinese, with the pair of Xiaoli Wang / Yang Yu winning the women's doubles title, and Nan Zhang / Yunlei Zhao winning the mixed doubles gold medal. However in the men's doubles with Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark overcame the challenge of Biao Chai / Zhendong Guo in the finals, to prevent a clean sweep by the Chinese players.

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal is India's best badminton player as on today. She is currently ranked No.6 in the world (as on 14-Jul-2011) in the women's singles event, as per the rankings that are published by the Badminton World Federation. Her career-best world ranking so far has been being No.2 in Dec-2010.

Awards won by Saina Nehwal:

Saina Nehwal won the prestigious Arjuna award in Aug-2009.
She was also honoured with the Padma Shri award in Jan-2010.
Saina won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting award, in Aug-2010.

About Saina Nehwal's family:

Saina's father Dr. Harvir Singh was a former University badminton champion, while her mother Usha Nehwal was former state badminton champion of Haryana. It was at her father's behest that she was introduced to badminton.

Saina Nehwal's Biography:

Saina was born on 17-Mar-1990. (As on the date of writing this article she is just 21 years of age). She was born at Hisar in Haryana state of India. She later moved on to Hyderabad with her family in 1998 and since then has spent most of her life at Hyderabad.

She started learning badminton at the age of 8, when she was enrolled at a summer badminton camp being conducted by coach Nani Prasad at the Fateh Maidan Indoor stadium at Hyderabad, and went on to make rapid progress in the world of badminton winning title after title on the National and International levels.

Saina Nehwal currently trains at the Pullela Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderabad.

Saina Nehwal's Coaches:

Saina Nehwal's first coach was Nani Prasad. She was later coached by S.M. Arif and Indonesian badminton player Atik Jouhari. Saina's current coach is former All-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand.

Saina Nehwal's Achievements / Major badminton title's won by Saina Nehwal listed year-wise:

2003:
Saina was born in 1990. Started training at the age of 8. So that must be the year 1998. Within 5 years of professional training, at the age of 13, she won her first major international junior title in 2003, the Czechoslovakia Junior Open badminton title.

2004:
The next year in 2004, Saina Nehwal was part of the Indian youth team that went to play at the Commonwealth youth games. Inspired by Saina's splendid performances, India's badminton team won the Silver medal at these games.

2005:
Saina won the Asian Satellite badminton tournament title in 2005.

2006:
Saina Nehwal won her first major senior international title, the Phillipines Open, in the year 2006. The same year she also won the Commonwealth Games Bronze medal and the Asian Satellite tournament title once again.

2007:
Saina Nehwal stamped her authority on Indian badminton in 2007, becoming the senior national champion. She won the Indian National Badminton Championship title, and the Indian National Games Gold medal.

2008:
Saina became the World Junior badminton champion in 2008. She also defeated world no.5 Wang Chen in a match that lasted 3 sets, to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics in 2008. Saina Nehwal also won her first Grand Prix Gold title the same year. Also significant was her reaching the semi-finals of the Superseries Masters event in 2008.
Major Achievements in 2008:
Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold 2008 title,
Reached the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics in 2008,
Indian National Badminton Championship title,
Commonwealth Youth Games Gold medal,
World Junior Championship title,
Semi-finalist at the Superseries Masters final.

2009:
Saina won the first Superseries title of her career in 2009, clearly marking her place in the badminton world's elite group players.
Major Achievements in 2009:
Indonesia Super Series 2009 title,
Quarterfinalist at the World championships,
India Open Grand Prix title,

2010:

Saina Nehwal was in devastating form in 2010, as she won 3 Super Series titles in the year. In 2010, Saina also achieved her career best ranking by reaching the World No.2 position. She also won a very memorable match on home ground, at the Siri Fort indoor complex at New Delhi in India, during the Commonwealth Games final, when she defeated Wong Mew Chew of Malaysia to grab the Gold medal. That win helped India to reach the No.2 spot in the final CWG standings.

Major Achievements in 2010:
India Open Grand Prix Gold 2010 title,
Singapore Super Series 2010 title,
Indonesia Super Series 2010 title,
Reached the semi-finals of the All-England Super series badminton championship,
Quarterfinalist at the World Badminton Championships.
CWG (Commonwealth Games-2010) Gold medal in Individual badminton women's singles event, as well as Silver medal in the team event.
Hong Kong Super Series 2010 badminton title,

2011:

Saina has been troubled with injuries since early this year in 2011, due to which she had to skip a couple of tournaments. However she bounced back strongly to win the Swiss Open GP Gold title, albeit in the absence of Chinese players. At the recent Sudirman Cup-2011, in which India reached the last 8 stage for the first time, Saina defeated world no.2 Xin Wang of China in a match that she won in straight sets.

Achievements in 2011:
Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold 2011 badminton tourney.
Runners up at the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
Runners up at the Indonesia Open-2011 Super Series Premier badminton tournament.

Update:
World no.4 Saina Nehwal ended the year 2011 on a high note by clinching the Silver medal at the Li Ning BWF World Superseries Finals 2011. In the finals she eventually lost to World No.1 Yihan Wang of China in closely contested three setter match.

Saina Nehwal - Miscellaneous information

• Saina Nehwal is a right-handed badminton player.
• She is about 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighs about 60 kg.
• She plays with the Yonex ArcSaber-7 brand of badminton racket.
• News sources declared that Saina had turned glamorous in 2011, when she dyed her hair blonde.
• Saina has starred in an Airtel advertisement earlier. Airtel is one of India's leading telecom company.
• Saina Nehwal is the brand ambassador of Deccan Chargers, the IPL cricket team that is owned by Deccan Chronicle of Hyderabad.
• She was also one of the 8 brand ambassadors of the 2010 CWG games.
• Nehwal was voted the 3rd best badminton player of 2010, by international badminton magazine, Badzine.
• Nehwal also has got a brown belt in Karate which she had learnt in her childhood.
• Saina joined the BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) ranks in 2004.
• Nehwal is also supported by the Olympic Gold Quest foundation.

Most prestigious titles which Saina Nehwal is yet to win:

All-England Open badminton championships,
Super Series Masters title,
World championships.
Asian Games Gold medal.
Olympic Games Gold medal.


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A day in the life of Saina Nehwal.
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Saina Nehwal and the 7 Habits

Saina Nehwal and the 7 Habits of highly effective people

Saina Nehwal

• one of the Top 5 badminton players of the world today.
• one of the most admired non-cricketing sportsperson in a cricket-crazy country.
• winner of the Khel-Ratna award, the country's highest sporting honour.

So what is it that makes Saina Nehwal tick?
What are Saina Nehwal's secrets of success?
What makes people call her 'Super Saina'?

While I pondered on these questions, I decided to tally & compare the life of Saina Nehwal against Dr. Stephen R. Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people, to check where she stands against each of these points.

Stephen Covey's book presents an Inside-out approach to effectiveness, that is centered on principles and on character. Inside-out means the change starts within oneself.

And here are my views & observations on Saina Nehwal Vs. 7 habits of highly effective people
 
 

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the surrounding environment or on how people treat them. Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions within their area of influence and control, rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them.

So talking about Saina Nehwal - is she proactive?
For Saina Nehwal & her family, this point has to be a definite YES.

Saina came from a middle-class family in Haryana. Her father Harvir Singh, who was a scientist with the Directorate Oil Seeds research at Hyderabad and her mother were both badminton players and former state champions in Haryana. So it was but natural that Saina took to badminton at a very early age in life. When she was only 8 her potential at badminton became obvious.

But potential is one thing and realizing it by going the full distance is another. The tough journey had begun. Half of the monthly salary started getting spent on Saina's badminton requirements. Shuttles, Rackets, and Shoes did not come cheap.

Moreover, Saina had to travel more than 20 km everyday and reach the stadium at 6 am to attend a 2 hour training, and then again was the long journey back home, and then travelling again to attend school. Life must have been tough! It reached such levels, that her father had to withdraw money again & again from Provident Fund savings to fund her training. Added to this was the risk of lagging behind at school & education.

Considering all these factors, the easy way out for Saina & her parents, would have been to accept all this as beyond their means, and to try and be satisfied with whatever National level success Saina had achieved thus far. But the Nehwal family was different. They were not ready to let go of the dream.

Saina Nehwal & her family's case purely demonstrates the power of being Proactive instead of reactive. A case that demonstrates how proactive people work on their area of influence rather than reporting problems and backing out.
(such as on the one hand her father withdrawing money from PF, and on the other hand Saina showing continuous improvement on the badminton courts)

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind.

An emphatic YES again for Saina Nehwal for this habit also.

The Nehwal family had a dream. To see Saina climb the pinnacle of success in the badminton world. She & her family never seems to have let go of the dream. Her interviews reflect on how she holds on to the dream of an Olympics medal. I also recently saw one of her interviews where she seemed to say that winning tournaments are what she wants, and that the world rankings would take care of themselves.

If this approach is not the 'Begin with the end in mind' approach then what is?
 
Habit 3: Put first things first

Practice. Practice. Practice. Focus. Focus. Focus.

This is apparently what Saina Nehwal does, and that's undoubtedly the single-most important reason for her success. I have heard that apart from the training that she does at the P Gopichand academy, she also further spends additional time on work-outs and fitness at home, as also on meditation.

If this is not Putting first things first, then what is? I mean, Saina Nehwal would also like to hang out with friends, spend time on movies, have fun & parties. But does she? In an interview her father said, she did not do any of this for 7 straight years, those early initial years.

Of course Saina Nehwal now has recently gone ahead and had a trendy makeover recently and has started appearing in a few ads also, but as long as she still sticks to the 'Put first things first' policy, she should keep achieving fairly well.

 
Here are some nice quotes related to this habit.

"Motivation is what gets you started, Habit is what keeps you going" - Jim Ryun, an American Athlete

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." - Henry David Thoreau

 
Habit 4: Think Win-win

Synopsis: Seek agreements & relationships that are mutually beneficial.

Recently Saina Nehwal could not attend a super series tournament, due to nursing an injury, and the organizers still wanted her to come and talk to the media, to which, finally a win-win situation such as video conferencing with the media was proposed. Can we call this thinking win-win seeking mutually beneficial agreements. Maybe we should.

As regards win-win relationships, Saina Nehwal has worked with several coaches, prior to Gopichand also, and it must have surely been a mutually beneficial relationships for them. Saina developing her game, and the coaches getting their best student ever.

Habit 5: Seek first to understand & then be understood.

I think with Saina Nehwal this point has to be a YES again.

Over the years, Saina's various interviews have reflected her concern for the second-rung badminton players who still have to struggle hard to keep going towards success. Be it Sania Mirza or Cricket or badminton in India, her views are clear enough, and can such clear views come without a clear understanding?

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Habit 6: Synergize

Saina Nehwal super badminton star.

P Gopichand super badminton coach.

The synergy between the two of them, has led to success for both. The year that Saina won the prestigious Arjuna award for best sportsperson, also saw P Gopichand winning the equally prestigious Dronacharya award for best coach.

This is how synergy works. The sum is always greater than the parts.

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Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.
Synopsis: Taking time out to sharpen the skills, through renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual dimensions, and maintaining a balance between these dimensions.

When Saina Nehwal has opted out of tournaments due to nursing any injury (this is the time when she cannot practice badminton also), she has tried out different things, be it photo shoots, advertisements, and public appearances. I think this is a case of sharpening social skills, meet necessary requirements and try and achieve a fuller work-life balance.

And as far as badminton practice comes, can anyone doubt that Saina Nehwal does not sharpen the saw? Her results on the badminton court are ample proof.

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