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'Raising the performace graph' has been Saina Nehwal's calling card for years.Saina has been through number of ups and downs in her nine year long career.From winning the World Junior title in 2008 to becoming the World No. 1 in 2015, she has seen it all.With rise in rankings, rises the level of expectaions from that player. Saina, who recently silpped to World No. 2 in the latest BWF Rankings achieved the career high ranking of 1 in April, 2015. Saina was also the first ever Indian women’s player and second Indian ever after Prakash Padukone to earn the No.1 spot but there are still few tournaments which are eluded from Saina’s golden book.So let’s take a look at the tournaments which Saina Nehwal should focus on after reaching the World No. 1 :-
#5 Uber Cup champion
Uber Cup is the biggest women’s team tournament in Badminton. In May, 2014 Saina Nehwal and her team of gutsy shuttlers scripted the history when they reached the semifinals of the for the first time in modern era of the tournament after thrashing Indonesia 3-0 in the quarters.
Indian Team, however went down to Japan 2-3 in the semis and eventually ended their dream run with a bronze medal. Saina Nehwal and her angles wlll now look forward to better the performance in the next edition of the Uber Cup to be played at Kunshan, China in 2016.
Saina is undoubtedly the best badminton player India has ever seen but If she can win the above mentioned tournaments then she could probably become the best women’s Badminton player in the world.
#4 Asian Games Gold
To become a continental champion is always a proud moment for any player. Saina Nehwal too has a dream of winning the Asian Games gold. As of now Saina has participated in 2010 and 2014 Asian Games but she failed to make it to through to the finals in any of them.
In 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Saina lost to Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong 8-21, 21-8, 19-21 whereas in 2014 she suffered defeat at the hands of old rival Wang Yihan of China 18-21, 21-9, 21-7.
Next Asian Games will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018, so Saina has a lot of time to prepare for the biggest quadrennial event of Asia. 2018 Asian Games could probably be the last Asian Games for Saina, so she would love to end her Asian Games career on a high note.
#3 All England title
In March 2015, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian women shuttler to reach the finals of All England Badminton Championships. She however went down to reigning World Champion Carolina Marin 21-16, 14-21, 7-21 in the summit clash.
Prakash Padukone became the first Indian player to win the All England Badminton Championships. He won the coveted All England Open title in 1980 with a victory over Liem Swie King of Indonesia.Pullela Gopichand achieved the same feat in 2001 but after that no other Indian player has won this prestigious title.
The All England championships is to badminton what Wimbledon is to tennis: the oldest of the majors, the most sought after, the most venerated trophy. Expectations will be high from the former World No. 1 Indian shuttler to end this 14-year-old All England title drought next year.
#2 World Championships Gold
Even though Saina Nehwal has won almost all the prestigious titles in the Badminton World, she has never been the World Champion. She has participated in four World Badminton Championships so far but she has never made it to the last four of the tournament.
Pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa won the bronze medal in 2011 World Championships and P.V Sindhu won the same in 2013 and 2014 but Saina has failed so far to make an impact in Badminton’s biggest tournament.
After becoming the world No. 1, Saina will focus on becoming the World Champion by winning the Gold Medal at 2015 World Badminton Championships to be played at Jakarta, Indonesia from August 11th to August 16th.
#1 Olympic Gold
On 4th August,2012 Saina Nehwal created the history as she became the first Indian badminton player ever to win an Olympic medal for the country. The 25-year-old clinched the medal after her Chinese opponent Wang Xin retired due to a right knee injury in the bronze medal play-off match.
Winning an Olympic Gold is undoubtedly the best achievement a player could achieve in his/her sporting career. Saina too has a dream of winning the yellow metal for the nation at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
After becoming the best in the world, the Hyderabadi will look forward to win the best title in the World ‘The Olympic Gold’. Olympic qualification period has already started from 4th of May. The World Ranking Lists of 5 May 2016 will be used to allocate the athletes Quota Places in Men’s and Women’s Singles, and Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles. Each list will be based on results achieved during the period 4 May 2015 to 1 May 2016.
