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There might have been disappointment for several ardent Indian fans on Sunday, following Saina Nehwal’s defeat at the Badminton World Championships, but there is certainly good news for them coming up.
Despite finishing with a silver medal, Saina Nehwal will come to climb to the top of the World rankings, when the updated ones are released, this coming Thursday the Times of India reports. The 25-year-old will gain a total of 3600 points which will see her current tally of 79192 points rise to 82792 while Carolina Marin, who won the title will gain no points despite securing her second consecutive World Championships crown.
This will be the third time that Saina will become the number one ranked player in the world. She reached on top of the pedestal in March earlier this year, when she progressed through to the semis of the India Open and then eventually secured the title and then became the top-ranked player once again, in May, following India’s dismal show at the Sudirman Cup, where she was the lone Indian to win both her Women’s Singles matches.
Saina has showed the way for the others: Dr. Harvir Singh
While the defeat in the World Championships left many supporters dejected, one man who expressed great pride in her effort was Saina’s father, Dr. Harvir Singh Nehwal, who felt that his daughter had played a vital role in helping the likes of PV Sindhu, by showing the way and also predicted the 20-year-old to scale the heights that Saina has.
“I am proud of my daughter. She made India proud with her achievements. She may have lost but she had shown the way for many youngsters like Srikanth (Kidambi), HS Prannoy, Kashyap (Parupalli) and Sindhu. She showed the way and my heart says that Sindhu is the next Saina of India. She is doing very well.
"It is great to see so many shuttlers coming from the Gopichand Academy. I am happy that Padukone Academy, where Saina is practising now, is also producing several players. All these augur well for the development of the game," he added.
