Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won a spectacular hat-trick of titles by clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series with a three-game triumph over Japan’s Sayaka Sato .
Unbeaten for the past three weeks, the top-seeded defending champion defeated her unseeded, but resolute rival 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in a rollercoaster encounter that lasted 45 minutes.
This was Saina’s third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series tournament last week. This is also the 20-year-old World No. 3’s third Super Series title overall.
Biography
Saina is an Indian badminton player. Currently ranked number 7 in the world by Badminton World Federation,Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Previously coached by S. M. Arif, a Dronacharya Award winner, Saina is the reigning Indian national junior champion and is currently coached by Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand at his academy in Hyderabad. Her professional career is managed by GloboSport. Saina was born in Hisar, Haryana,India and spent her complete life in city of Hyderabad. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal, both of whom were former badminton champions in Haryana. In December 1998, Saina's father took her to meet Coach Nani Prasad at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. Seeing potential in the girl, Prasad asked Singh to enroll Saina as a summer trainee. Harvir Singh and Saina, who was 8 yrs old at the time, would wake up at 6 every morning and head to the stadium which was 20 km away. After two hours of practice, Singh would drop Saina to school on his way to work. Saina would often fall asleep on these journeys which prompted her mother to accompany them for the next three months. Traveling nearly 50 km a day in order to accommodate the training schedule, Singh eventually decided to move closer to the stadium in 1999. This however didn’t end the traveling ordeal as Saina was asked to attend evening training sessions as well. With the extra training sessions, traveling expenditure rose phenomenally. Added to the cost of equipment including shuttles, rackets, shoes, gutting and expenses rose to over Rs. 12,000 per month. In order to keep up with the rising cost of her training, Saina’s father withdrew money from his savings and provident fund. The tight-rope walk continued until 2002, when sports brand Yonex offered to sponsor Saina’s kit. As her status and rankings improved, the sponsorships increased. In 2004, BPCL signed the rising star onto their payroll, and in 2005 she was spotted by the Mittal Champions Trust.
Personal information
Date of birth - March 17, 1990
(age 20)
Place of birth- Hisar, Haryana, India
Height- 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight -60 kg (130 lb)
Country - India
Coach- Pullela Gopichand, Atik Jauhari