Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna award winner and India’s pride Saina Nehwal has been training hard to win the gold medal in the Olympic Games set to take place in Rio this year. A video of Saina training for the Olympics was released by OyePlay on their facebook page.
In the video, Saina is seen taking on four players in an incredible rally which she ends up winning. Her words in the recent past have shown passion and determination. In a recent interview with India Today, Saina said that she has had enough time to prepare for the tournament, this time, around and has been working on all her weaknesses. When asked about her targets for the Olympics Saina said that she will be going for a medal, like every other athlete who participates in the Olympics.
Saina was coached by Pullela Gopichand, the legendary Indian Badminton player till 2014 is now coached by Vimal Kumar. Her haul of medals includes a gold in the Commonwealth games in Delhi along with over half a dozen Bronze medals in many international events. The most important Bronze medal of the collection is the Olympic medal she collected in London 2012. She also has 4 Silver Medals, one of which came in the 2015 World Championships.
Also read: Meet Saina Nehwal's biggest fans: The Saina Squad
The country’s hopes for a Gold in Rio from Saina rose considerably after she won the Australian Superseries early in June this year. The ace Indian shutttler beat fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand and second seed Wang Yihan of China on her way to the title.
1980 All England Open Champion Prakash Padukone is one of the most notable people who have said that Saina could come back with the Gold medal. In a recent interview, he also said that Saina’s game used to be more or less predictable but has improved considerably ever since.
Nehwal currently sits at the sixth spot in the BWF World Rankings. Her career best ranking came in April 2015 when she rose to the top spot. After beating many of the players ranking higher than her in the Australian Open, Saina’s chances of winning a medal seem very likely.
