Unique opportunity for fans to cheer for Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal has had fantastic support so far at the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai

There is little doubt that over the course of the last 3-4 years, several niche sports have started competing with cricket in a bid to capture the attention of India's sports fans. One of those sports that has found a large fan following among the country's spectators, has been badminton.

It's not hard to see why; India's shuttlers have put in excellent performances in various global competitions of late, and have been giving their Chinese and Malaysian competitors a run for their money. But even among those remarkable Indian players, one has stood out from the rest of the pack, standing head and shoulders above them all – Saina Nehwal.

The 25-year-old has been the shining light of Indian badminton for quite a long time now, and her popularity has steadily risen with each landmark achievement.

In 2015, Saina reached several new heights, which Indians had previously only dreamed of. Some of her incredible achievements include:

1. First Indian woman shuttler to reach the final of the All England Badminton Championships.

2. First Indian women shuttler to become World No.1

3. First Indian shuttler to reach the final of the World Championships.

These are staggering achievements which were unheard of 10 or even 5 years ago in Indian women’s badminton. But Saina, through her tremendous hard work and unbelievable mental strength, has broken many a myth in Indian sport.

Saina has shown the young aspiring athletes in the country how to get to the top, how to rise to the challenge and most importantly, how India can be a force to reckon with in any sport, not just cricket.

An opportunity like no other for Saina's fans

One of the biggest tournaments on the badminton calendar that spectators look forward to is the BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai, which sees the top eight ranked players facing off against one another over four days. One of the unique features of this event is that only the best compete against one another, and so the level of competition is higher than any other tournament.

Keeping in mind the significance of this tournament, Star Sports came up with a one-of-a-kind idea called 'Saina Squad'. In this exercise, 20 of Saina Nehwal’s biggest and most passionate fans received an incredible chance to fly to Dubai and cheer for their favourite star as she looks to win her maiden BWF World Superseries Finals title.

Star Sports used social media as the platform to select the fans, and over the course of the last 3-4 weeks, they put forth various challenges to fans on Twitter & Facebook. They asked the fans to send a special chant to cheer the shuttler on, they organized an online treasure hunt on Saina’s Twitter timeline, they conducted a special quiz on Saina in which she herself played quizmaster via video, and also released a set of #SainaFacts cards that fans collected on Twitter!

Expectedly, the activity received an overwhelming response on social media, and the names of the 20 lucky fans who made the #SainaSquad, were revealed last week.

Why the fans are important

When we speak about the makings of a great player in any sport, some of the things that we emphasize on are their training methods, their discipline in maintaining a strict regime and an uncompromising diet, and the coaching assistance that they have.

But for any sportsperson, the support that he or she receives matters as much, if not more, than any of the above components. What is the one thing that every sportsperson wishes for wherever they go?

Yes, they want top-drawer facilities and they want clean adjudicating in matches. But above all else, what they want is for the spectators to flock to the stadiums and cheer them on. Nothing gets the juices of an athlete flowing more than the fans singing or chanting their name from the rooftops, or in the case of a badminton arena, from the stands.

The fan base for Indian sport has been growing exponentially, and badminton’s popularity in particular has seen a steady rise over the last few years. However, fans haven’t been able to get up-close-and-personal with their stars. Badminton, being a global sport, isn't played as much as we want it to be in India, as a result of which fans are forced to cheer for their idols while watching the matches on TV, or online.

That's where initiatives like Saina Squad can really help not just the fans, but also the sport in general. By giving Saina's followers the chance to interact with her and act as her personal cheering squad, this campaign will bring badminton even closer to the masses, and in turn foster the continued development of the sport in the country.

Saina Nehwal is easily the biggest badminton star in India, and the 'Saina Squad' campaign could well make her a global icon too.

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Edited by Staff Editor