Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Jakarta :Saina Nehwal may have lost the World Badminton Championships final but she has good news in store, too. Despite the defeat in Jakarta on Sunday, Saina is set to win back her No.1 status in world badminton rankings, according to a report.
The 25-year-old shuttler on Sunday became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the world championships. Saina lost 21-16, 21-19 to Carolina Marin of Spain. Saina had lost to Carolina in the All England final in Birmingham earlier this year.
The Indian ace — currently on 79,192 points — will gain 3600 points to pip the reigning No.1 Carolina, who will not gain anything from this victory and will remain on 80,612 points, according to the report. Saina, who topped the ranking charts on April 2, was the first Indian to take the top spot in world rankings.
Saina said she had committed “far too many mistakes” that cost her the gold medal at the prestigous tournament.
“I could have done better. I made too many mistakes in the first game. I had no problems with fitness. But the final is more mental than physical. I made one silly error during a crucial moment in the second game,” Saina said after the match.
Saina has been in a thrilling form this year and much of the credit goes to her new coach Vimal Kumar.
The two formed a partnership before the Asian Games last year. The world No.2 had split with her former coach Pullela Gopichand and shifted base from Hyderabad to Bangalore to train under Vimal ‘Sir’.
“It has been a phenomenal one year for me and I am thankful to my coach (Vimal Kumar) for that. Moving base to Bangalore has made a huge difference,” Saina told reporters.
Here are the highlights of Saina’s achievements in 2015:
# Saina won the 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold.
# She became the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the finals of All England Open Badminton Championships.
# On 29 March 2015, Saina won her maiden women’s singles title at the India Open BWF Super Series.
# She became the first Indian female shuttler to be World No.1.
