- Saina Nehwal (Image courtesy: Yonex)
If you saw her in a pair of jeans and T-shirt, speaking in that distinctive and delightfully Hyderabadi accent, you could easily mistake her for a girl next door. But you will make no such mistake if you spot the same girl on a badminton court, chasing the shuttle down relentlessly and packing a lot of tactical thought in doing that. You cannot mistake the combination of power and elegance when Saina Nehwal is on court.
Standing at five foot five, the 19-year-old became the toast of the nation when she won the Indonesian Open in Jakarta with a victory over World No. 3 Lin Wang to become the first Indian woman to claim a Super Series tournament. “I was playing all the top players in the tournament and the truth is that before each round I had been thinking I would lose but once I stepped on court, I would be very positive. Instead of hurrying up, I made my opponents run. I was in control. It worked out very well.”
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