Star Sports picks 20 fans to be a part of the Saina Squad

Saina Nehwal will have 20 of her biggest fans cheering for her at the BWF Superseries in Dubai

Keeping up with its commitment of building and supporting heroes in Indian sports, Star Sports has announced the #SainaSquad comprising of 20 lucky winners who will travel to Dubai to support and cheer Indian Badminton’s poster girl, Saina Nehwal at the BWF World Superseries Finals from December 9 to December 13, 2015.

Currently ranked second in the world, Saina is one of India’s biggest sporting icons. She reflects the aspirations of millions of Indians and has a huge following of fans cutting across demographics.

That same support, however, has been missing when she plays abroad. Star Sports has picked these 20 zealous fans forming the #SainaSquad, on whom Saina can depend on for support and encouragement during the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai. These 20 fans were picked after a series of contests across various social media platforms.

Millions of Saina Nehwal fans were put through a series of contests before 20 were picked to become a part of the #SainaSquad. The squad generated a social engagement of 60,000 and trended twice at number one in India with a total of more than 53,000 twitter conversations.

The first of those contests – featuring 20 cards celebrating Saina’s career achievements saw over 10,626 tweets. This was followed by a quiz contest which generated 229,189 Twitter impressions and a Facebook reach of 245,855.

The fans were also asked to come up with innovative and unique chants for Saina Nehwal. With over 2,265 entries, the process to pick the best was one of the toughest. Star Sports also launched a special TVC featuring Saina and urging people to become a part of the #SainaSquad. The aesthetically produced video has already garnered around 2 million views.

Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India said, “As a broadcaster, we have always believed in bringing fans as close to the game and their heroes, as possible. Putting together the #SainaSquad comprising of 20 ardent fans who follow Saina Nehwal and badminton closely is one step in that direction. The squad will also act as a platform to help increase the following of the sport. We are sure that the squad will make themselves heard at the BWF SuperSeries Finals in Dubai and give Saina the much needed and well-deserved boost.”

Adding another feat to the squad, Bajaj Electricals has come on-board as presenting sponsor. They recently launched a new brand film ‘We are Family’ which encapsulates how they feel about their relationship with their consumers. They believe in today’s modern age, behind every successful woman there is a family and supporting the #SainaSquad is a decision stemming from this belief.

Speaking about the association, Anant Bajaj, Joint Managing Director, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, said, “As a build up to our new campaign under the ‘We are Family’ tagline, we felt it apt to come on-board as presenting sponsor for Saina Squad, which will ensure that whichever part of the globe Saina would play in, she would not miss her family. She will always find support in the crowd cheering for her. We wish Saina, the Saina Squad and Star Sports all the very best for this very innovative initiative to boost the morale of any sportsperson playing across the world.”

The #SainaSquad will be flying to Dubai on December 8, 2015. With the best seats in the house, their fan kits ready and chants practiced, the squad will make their favorite shuttler feel at home in Dubai.

The #Saina Squad

Names and details of winners of the #SainaSquad

SAINA SQUAD
#	Names	Gender	Location
1	Mr. Jatin Israni	Male	New Delhi
2	Mr. Nitesh Sajnani	Male	Ulhasnagar
3	Dr. Nikita Kothari	Female	Mumbai
4	Mr. Shivam Sharma	Male	Pune
5	Mr. Nikhil Aima	Male	Hyderabad
6	Mr. Prabhu Damodharan	Male	Coimbatore
7	Mr. Prathamesh Avachare	Male	Nashik
8	Mr. Saravanan Hari	Male	Chennai
9	Mr. Siddharth Kadambote	Male	Bangalore
10	Mr. Kumarshanu Babar	Male	Mumbai
11	Mr. Anoop Mani	Male	Coimbatore
12	Mr. Aditya Venkata Chidurala	Male	Mumbai
13	Mr. Sharath Chimmneinyan Valoth	Male	Bangalore
14	Ms. Rachana Trivedi	Female	Rajkot
15	Mr. Himanshu Babbar	Male	New Delhi
16	Mr. Mohamed Sharooq	Male	Kochi
17	Ms. Gayatri Mehta	Female	Chiplun
18	Ms. Sakshi Trivedi	Female	Delhi
19	Ms. Riya Suri	Female	Delhi
20	Ms. Kanchan Negi	Female	Mumbai