Saina Nehwal all set to marry fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on December 16

Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is all set to marry fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on December 16. Saina broke the news to the world about her 10-year old relationship with Kashyap in her interview with the Times of India.

In the interview. the London Olympics bronze medallist revealed that December 16 was the only date possible for their wedding. “I will get busy with the Premier Badminton League from December 20 and then qualifiers for the Tokyo Games will begin. So this was the only date that we had to get married.”

Saina and Kashyap have been training under the guidance of Pullela Gopichand since 2005. While the announcement of their relationship only a month old, the two have been dating for more than 10 years.

“We started travelling for bigger tours from 2007-08 onwards. We played tournaments together, trained together and slowly, started paying more attention to each other’s matches. In the competitive world that we live in, it is difficult to get close to someone. But somehow we both found it very easy to talk to each other, talk about our matches. The feeling gradually grew. We didn’t think about marriage before. The career that we pursue is very demanding. It is very important to win tournaments and we didn’t want to shift our focus by getting married earlier,” she said.

Saina who is currently participating in the Korean open felt that they are ready to manage all the responsibilities of on their own.

“A player needs treatment and attention just like a baby. At home, I get everything without asking, but this will change once I get married. I will be equally responsible of doing things on my own. I didn’t want to rush things before the CWG and Asian Games. But now, we think we are ready for it and can manage things on our own," she said in the interview.

She also added that she didn't have to tell her parents about their relationship as they already knew it. “Bolne ki zaroorat nahi padi (There was no need to tell). We used to be together most of the time and my parents also travelled with me, so they understood who I was close to and comfortable with even after my losses.”

The two world-class badminton players are the pride of the nation and have represented India at various events in the last decade. Let us hope that they will also ace a new chapter in their lives that is set to start on December 16.