Saina Nehwal, world number two badminton player lost for the second time with the same opponent Spain’s Carolina Marin in the All England Championships final earlier 2014 lost her quest to become the first Indian world champion in badminton ended in heartbreak in Jakarta.
- Despite achieving her final challenge, 25-year-old Saina Nehwal created history by giving India its first ever silver medal in World Championships.
- Saina went down 16-21, 19-21 in the final to her opponent Carolina Marin.
Of total India won 5 medals in World Championship which includes:
• PV Sindhu- 2 bronze medals (2013,2014)
• Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in women’s doubles-1 bronze (2011)
• Prakash Padukone- 1 bronze (1983)
• Saina Nehwal- 1 Silver (2015)
Saina Nehwal:
• Saina Nehwal is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics.
• She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships.
• She is the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open on 21 June 2009.
• She is also the first Indian after Prakash Padukone and the first Indian woman to become world number 1.
• She is the first Indian woman to win silver at 2015 BWF World Championship.
Carolina Marin:
• Carolina Maria Marin Martin is a badminton player from Spain who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by Badminton World Federation Women’s Singles 2015.
• She became world champion in women’s singles in 2014 and 2015.
• In 2009 she became the first Spanish badminton player to win a silver medal first, at the 2009 European Junior Badminton Championships.
• She was the first Spanish badminton player to win a Grand Prix Gold title after winning the 2013 London Grand Prix Gold.
• Aged only 21, she became the youngest European world champion ever.
• On 8 March 2015, she won the All England, her first Superseries Premier title in her first Superseries Premier final.
• On 16 August 2015, Carolina Marin won her second BWF World Championship title, beating India’s Saina Nehwal.
Back as world No. 1, Saina Nehwal signs Rs 25 crore deal
- It was double delight for Saina Nehwal on Thursday. The World Championships silver medallist regained the No. 1 rank – surging 2,180 points ahead of Carolina Marin and also struck a landmark deal with management company IOS Sports & Entertainment.
- Saina’s deal is worth Rs 25 crore over two years. IOS also manages top sportspersons like Suresh Raina, MC Mary Kom, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh.
- The shuttler was also excited to be back on the top of the world rankings. She secured the No. 1 rank for the first time on April 2 but remained there only for five weeks. However, this time round, the Indian will enjoy a longer reign. With 82,792 points, Saina is 2,180 points ahead of world champion Carolina Marin. Third placed Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei is over 12,000 points behind the Indian.
