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Saturday, May 25th 09:24 AM IST
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Saina Nehwal GALLERY.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a straight game win over of Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in Basel. Nehwal, who is the defending champion and top seed, took exactly half an hour to get the better of Nedelcheva 21-15 21-10 in the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles event late last night. By virtue of this win, Nehwal, who reclaimed World No 2 position yesterday, took a 6-2 head-to-head lead over 23rd ranked Nedelcheva. [caption id=attachment_662618 align=alignleft width=380 India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal s
Olympic bronze medalist, Saina Nehwal regained her second place while Parupalli Kashyap gained two places to reach the seventh spot in the latest badminton world ranking today. Nehwal had lost a position to slip to the third spot last week, but after a semifinal finish at the All England Championship, the Indian regained her place in the world ranking. [caption id=attachment_660964 align=alignleft width=380 Olympic bronze medalist, Saina Nehw
Two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal has been seeded No.1 in women's singles at the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold which starts on Tuesday. Saina, who lost in the semifinal of the All England Open Badminton Championships Saturday, won the tier three tournament in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, the current World No.3 beat South Korea's Sung Ji-hyun 21-13, 21-14 in the final. Last year she overcame nemesis Shixian Wang 21-19, 21-16 to clinch the only tier three title of March. [caption id=attachment_654977 align=alignleft width=380 Two-time defending champion Saina N
strongBirmingham:/strong Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's dream of winning her maiden All England Championship went up in smoke as the Indian suffered a straight-game defeat to world number eight Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand in the semifinals of the women's singles competition here today. The world number three Indian went down 15-21 19-21 to the young and dynamic Intanon in a 40-minute match at the National Indoor Arena. This is the third time Saina has lost to Intanon. She was beaten at the Sudirman Cup in 2011 and also at the Super Series Final last year. [caption id=attachment_654306 align=alignleft width=380 strongBirmingham:/strong Star India
India's Saina Nehwal beat Shixian Wang in the quarterfinals of the All England Super Series Premier in Birmingham today to advance to the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament. The win didn't come easy and the Indian star, who is the second seed, had to fight every inch of the way to come out triumphant in three tough games 23-21, 19-21, 21-16. The match, which stretched over an hour, saw Saina's retreival powers stand her in good stead. She kept making the Chinese star play that one extra shot and in the end it weighed on her patience. [caption id=attachment_653867 align=alignleft width=380 India's Saina Nehwal beat Shixian W
India's Saina Nehwal returns to China's Wang Shixian during their All England Open Badminton Championships women's singles quarter-final match in Birmingham, central England, on March 8, 2013. India's Saina Nehwal returns to Chi
When Saina Nehwal takes on Shixian Wang in the quarterfinals of the All England Super Series Premier in Birmingham later today, she would know very well that there cannot be a better opportunity for her to stake claim for the coveted title. In the last few years, the major tournaments have been billed as 'Saina vs China' given the rivalry between the world badminton's powerhouse and the Indian ace. And the second seed would get a chance to ensure that there would be no Chinese player in the women's singles semifinals for the first time since 1996 if she gets the better of the 2011 All England champion, Shixian. The favourite tag was attached to Saina on the very first day of the tournament when reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui and world champion Yihan Wang were shown the door in the opening round of the tournament and the London Olympic bronze medallist would surely fancy her chances having to face the only Chinese against whom she has a positive head to head record. [caption id=attachment_652814 align=alignleft width=380 When Saina Nehwal takes on Shixian
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Wednesday made a positive start to her campaign at the All England Championship by notching up a difficult three-game victory over Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand to reach the prequarterfinals of the USD 400,000 badminton tournament. The 22-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist took 53 minutes to get across Sapsiree 21-8 18-21 21-16 in the opening round of the women's singles competition at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. She will next take on the winner of the match between Belaetrix Manuputi and Minatsu Mitani. However, it was curtains for mixed doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa as they lost 18-21 10-21 to Fran Kuyrniawan and Shendy Puspa Irawati in a 24-minute match. [caption id=attachment_651321 align=alignleft width=380 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehw
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will return to Great Britain with a renewed hope of clinching the prestigious All England title but a tough draw awaits her in the women's singles of the Super Series Premier event, which starts with the qualifiers tomorrow. Ever since 2007, Saina has been playing in the USD 400,000 All England Championship and her best performance so far is a semifinal finish at the 2010 edition. In the last two years, Saina reached the quarterfinals of the event before being humbled by lower-ranked players and the second seeded Indian will have to be on her guard this year as well. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist will open her campaign against Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand. The Indian has played her four times and always had an upper hand but in their last encounter at Korea Open, the Thai girl had stretched Saina to three games. If she clears the first hurdle, the 22-year-old will next take on Minatsu Mitani of Japan, who had spoilt her French Open title hopes when she beat the Indian at the finals. Even though Saina has beaten her thrice in the past, she needs to be careful of the Japanese. [caption id=attachment_647632 align=alignleft width=380 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehw
Trust Saina Nehwal to know a thing or two about conserving energy. The badminton star, known for her powerful smashes on the badminton court and also her ability to last the distance in tough match situations, will now tell you ways to conserve power. Except that this is power of the electrical kind. Pushed to the wall with an acute power crisis in Andhra Pradesh, energy officials have turned to Saina, in the hope that her appeals to people to use power judiciously will pack a punch. So the next time you find Saina speaking on a television set near you, you are likely to be told what you can do to ensure there is some light at the end of the tunnel. That if each one did his or her bit, it could result in a saving of 15000 million units of energy, that translates to 7500 crore rupees. The fact that this is a pre-election year means the political leadership is more sensitive to the power woes of the people. Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy wants AP Transco to ensure that not a single acre of the rabi crop should wither for want of power supply and that any shortfall in seven hours of power supply should be compensated the next day. Not only that, the government also wants to ensure adequate power supply so that students preparing for exams are not aggrieved. [caption id=attachment_633963 align=alignleft width=380 Trust Saina Nehwal to know a thing
Indian Badminton player Saina Nehwal launches the Samsung Galaxy Grand smartphone at a function in Mumbai on January 22, 2013. The Galaxy Grand dual sim smartphone will retail for 21,500 rupees (USD 400) in the Indian market. Indian Badminton player Saina Nehwa
India's Saina Nehwal hits a return during her match against Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying in the women's singles semi-finals of Malaysian Open Super Series 2013 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur January 19, 2013. India's Saina Nehwal hits a return
strongNew Delhi:/strong Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal attained a new high as she climbed to a career-best second in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released today. Saina gained a rung to be second with 80091.7444 points. The Indian, who is currently competing in the Malaysia Open Super Series, is a distant second to top-placed Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China who has 94626.7153 points. [caption id=attachment_591826 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Olympic bro
strongSeoul/strong: World No.3 shuttler Saina Nehwal faltered once again in the women's singles quarter-final of the $1 million Korea Open Super Series Premier against Li Han of China here Friday. The unseeded Li won her first match against Saina in three meetings here at the S.K. Handball Stadium. Li won 21-14, 15-21, 21-12 in 59 minutes, preventing Saina from bettering her record in the tournament where she also lost in the quarter-final in 2012. [caption id=attachment_585093 align=alignleft width=380 strongSeoul/strong: World No.3 shut
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal sailed into the quarterfinals with a straight game victory but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu in the second round of the Korea Open Super Series Premier here today. Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal took 36 minutes to brush aside Mingtian Fu of Indonesia 21-16 21-9 in the women's singles at the SK Handball Stadium here. Han beat Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei 21-16 21-16 in another match. [caption id=attachment_583914 align=alignleft width=380 India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal s
Top Indian shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal, started the new year on a winning note, reaching the second round of the season-opening Korea Open Premier Super Series on Wednesday. Olympic bronze-medallist Saina, seeded third, was little rusty to start with as she conceded the first gamebut got her act together in time to notch up a 17-21 21-9 21-19 win over Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the women's singles opening round. The world number three will now clash with Singapore's Mingtian Fu. Fu beat Bulgaria's Petya Nedelcheva in another match at the SK Handball Stadium. Saina has a 3-0 record against the Singaporean. [caption id=attachment_582764 align=alignleft width=380 Top Indian shuttlers, including Sai
Li Xuerui of China returns a shot against Saina Nehwal of India in the women’s singles event of the 2012 BWF Superseries Finals in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province on December 15, 2012. Li beat Nehwal 22-20, 7-21, 21-13 to move into the final. Li Xuerui of China returns a shot a
strongShenzhen (China)/strong: Saina Nehwal looks all set to cap a remarkable year on a high as the ace Indian shuttler reached the semifinals of the BWF World Super Series Finals with straight-game win over Juliane Schenk of Germany. Saina had her back against the wall after two back-to-back losses in Group 'B' but the London Olympics bronze-medallist made a remarkable comeback and put herself back into the reckoning for her fifth Super Series title this year with a 21-7 21-18 victory over Schenk in 37 minutes. The World No 3 Saina made a resounding start reeling off six straight points with a mix of her trademark cross-court smashes and drop-shots to which Schenk had no response. Saina was ahead 9-2 just five minutes into the match and swelled her lead to 15-7 as Schenk looked a pale shadow of herself in the opening game. [caption id=attachment_557987 align=alignleft width=380 strongShenzhen (China)/strong: Sain
Juliane Schenk of Germany reacts after losing to Saina Nehwal of India in the women’s singles event of the 2012 BWF Superseries Finals in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province on December 14, 2012. Nehwal beat Schenk 21-7, 21-18 to move into the next round. Juliane Schenk of Germany reacts af
World No.3 shuttler Saina Nehwal of India lost her second consecutive women's singles Group B match in the $500,000 BWF World Super Series Finals against Thai Ratchanok Intanon in straight games here Thursday. This loss virtually puts the London Olympics bronze medallist out of contention for the semifinals. She also lost her first group match against old rival Swiss Tine Baun Wednesday. Ratchanok won the match with much ease, 21-13, 21-16 in 34 minutes at the China Resources Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre. [caption id=attachment_555828 align=alignleft width=380 World No.3 shuttler Saina Nehwal of
strongNew Delhi:/strong Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series after suffering a straight-game defeat to former world number one Wang Lin of China in the second round today. The third-seeded Indian failed to match Wang with her smashes and went down 19-21 15-21 to the current world number 61 Chinese in a 37-minute match. Saina, who returned to the court after skipping the China Masters last week because of a knee problem, was not in her element as she had just five smash winners against 10 by the Chinese. The 2010 World Champion, Wang, who holds a 3-2 record against Saina, brought the Indian close to the net and then used her smashes to good affect. [caption id=attachment_532132 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Olympic bro
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stood by her coach Pullela Gopichand, who has been accused of mental harassment by doubles specialist Prajakta Sawant in a petition filed in the Bombay High Court. Look at me. I am standing here today as World No 3. I would like to thank Gopi sir for where I am today. I don't know from where all these things are coming out and I really don't know what it is about, Saina, who was initially reluctant to answer the question priovided her response on the issue. [caption id=attachment_518869 align=alignleft width=380 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehw
Olympics Bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal failed to clinch back-to-back title as she suffered a shock straight-game defeat to Japanese Minatsu Mitani in the summit clash of the French Open Super Series here today. Playing her second final in two weeks, world number three Saina could not live upto expectations against 21-year-old Minatsu and lost 19-21 11-21 in the 39-minute women's singles final. Saina, who won the Denmark Super Series Premier title last week, was tested only for the second time in the tournament by world number 26 Minatsu, who rode on her superior court coverage and accurate strokes to clinch her first Super Series title. [caption id=attachment_506083 align=alignleft width=380 Olympics Bronze medallist shuttler
strongNew Delhi/strong: The 22-year-old Saina today reached the quarterfinals of the French Open after a comfortable 21-16 21-13 victory over Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand. She is likely to take on seventh seeded Ratchanok Intanon tomorrow for a place in the semifinal. Riding on her maiden Denmark Open title triumph last Sunday, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal is now ranked third in the latest World badminton ranking announced today. The London Olympics Bronze medallist Indian is now just one step away from regaining her world number two status as a semifinal spot in the ongoing French Open will help her to topple Olympic champion Li Xuerui to the second place. Tipped to win the French Open, Saina (80361.7444) will fetch 6420 points by just reaching the semifinal, which will be good enough to surpass Xuerui's (85926.7153) ranking points and regain her second place. [caption id=attachment_503055 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi/strong: The 22-year
Saina Nehwal beat seventh seeded Juliane Schenk of Germany to win the Denmark Open Super Series Premier tournament on Sunday. Schenk had pulled off a massive upset on Friday when she overcame world number two and Olympic champion Li Xuerui. Earlier Nehwal booked her place in the final after world number one opponent Yihan Wang of China retired midway through the semi-final clash because of a knee injury. [caption id=attachment_497884 align=alignleft width=380 Saina Nehwal beat seventh seeded Ju
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal booked her place in the final of the Denmark Super Series Premier tournament after world number one opponent Yihan Wang of China retired midway through the semi-final clash because of a knee injury. The London Olympics silver medallist looked in great physical distress and finally decided to throw in the towel after lagging 7-12 in the second game. Saina had won the first game comfortably at 21-12. [caption id=attachment_497631 align=alignleft width=380 Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal bo
strongOdense (Denmark):/strong Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal set up a semifinal clash against old nemesis and world number one Wang Yihan of China after easing past local hope Tine Baun in straight games at the Denmark Open here. Third seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat fifth seed Baun 21-10, 21-11 to make the last-four stage where she will be up against an opponent who has beaten her in all their six previous encounters. Saina, playing her first tournament after becoming the first Indian shuttler to fetch an Olympic medal (a bronze) in London, was hardly troubled in the match yesterday. [caption id=attachment_497167 align=alignleft width=380 strongOdense (Denmark):/strong Indi
strongOdense (Denmark):/strong Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will be making a comeback at the Denmark Open Super Series Premier on Wednesday, after lying low since winning the bronze medal at the London Olympics on 5 August. The Hyderabadi had taken a break and was busy attending felicitation functions during the last two months, also missing out on two Super Series events in China and Japan. [caption id=attachment_490912 align=alignleft width=380 strongOdense (Denmark):/strong Indi
Saina Nehwal's move to pay advance tax worth Rs 70 lakh has apparently backfired. A a href=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/badminton/Saina-Nehwal-pays-Rs-70-lakh-but-no-sign-of-money-for-which-shes-been-taxed/articleshow/16759261.cms?emTimes of India/em/a report says that the 22-year-old has not been paid her dues by Deccan Chronicle while tax authorities served her a notice on her projected annual earnings. Saina was associated with Deccan Chronicle before she signed a whopping Rs 40-crore deal with Rhiti Sports. They also managed her endorsement deals, which included more than half-a-dozen products. [caption id=attachment_487194 align=alignleft width=380 Saina Nehwal's move to pay advance
Saina Nehwal said today she plansto set up a badminton academy as there is a lot of interest inthe garden city. The world No 4 shuttler said she is in discussion withreal estate firm Commune India and sports company Target GamesFacilities for such a venture. With their support, I hope to do something well forbadminton in Bangalore. I can see the interest (inBangalore), the London Olympics bronze medallist toldreporters here. [caption id=attachment_486403 align=alignleft width=385 Saina Nehwal said today she plansto